\uD83D\uDE80 How to build a winning landing page to skyrocket your newsletter \uD83D\uDE80

Wondering what is going on in Email? We surveyed thousands of people in email to get their outlook, skills, teams, history, and strategies.

So… a few months ago we at ReallyGoodEmails.com asked tens of thousands of email geeks to tell us about themselves at work. Most people were like, “Nope. Got better things to do with my life.” But there were about a thousand people who decided to take one for the team and give us a solid 7 minutes so that we could put this thing together.

To all those people who helped out (1,067 to be exact), this research goes out to you.

xoxo,

The RGE Team

About the people in email…

Attitude, outlook, and background

We asked how people ended up involved in the wild world of email. The vast majority (57%) were brought into the fold because they started a new position that required them to work on it. Welcome to the jungle. Only 1.5% reported actually studying how to email before jumping into the workforce, whereas almost 1 in 5 (19.5%) told us that they had some coding, design, copywriting, and/or analytical skills which they volunteered — of their own free will — to do more in email for their organization. Of the remainder, 15.2% reported that they were forced into email development by “the man” (aka their boss) and 6.2% fell into the “other” category, citing activities such as necessity for running the business (i.e. being the founder), or trying to understand customer behavior (i.e. UX designers and analysts).

Of the emailers who responded, the studious types and volunteers aren’t really feeling it long-term compared to their peers. Many of them don’t see themselves sticking with email beyond the next few years. Sadness. But you do you, boo. The good news is that 2 out of 3 (67%) still feel the email love. They have a positive, view of their roles in email development. Hurray!

It’s all a matter of perspective and experience, apparently: long-term vs. short-term outlook was influenced by years of experience. Like adorable, exuberant puppies, the newbies (0–1 year) see a lasting role in email. Things are a bit gloomy in years 2–4, but the turning point seems to be year 5. The sunshine and roses return at that point! Or, maybe that’s the point at which people say peace out. But after that, the longer they’re in email, the brighter the outlook.

Experience

We shouldn’t play fast and loose with our stats, though… full disclosure: a majority of respondents (55%) have 3 years or less of dedicated email experience. This makes those of us with almost a decade or more of emailing feel like dinosaurs… y’all remember aol? Hotmail, anyone?! Oh, man… those were the days. But you youngsters out there give us hope for the future.

And it seems like that future will be guided by those of you who have full-time gigs doing email. Based on years worked, you are more likely to have a dedicated role in email. However, around 7 years in, that dedication switches back to part-time for some reason. (Without more information, our assumption is that with the more years of experience, individuals may be placed in management roles which take away this full-time focus.) On average of all years worked, only 38% have a full-time email role.

When it comes to actual role titles, seems like a lot of our readers see themselves as email dabblers rather than dedicated experts in any one thing. Almost 60% self-identify as filling a mixed bag kind of role — taking on a number of tasks such as designing, coding, managing, and analyzing.

And that’s probably because most of y’all are either flying solo or working as a tiny tag-team crew. 80% of email teams are 3 people or less! Bless you. You are the warriors.

Working conditions

Getting stuff done with your team is all the craze these days. You know what else is a craze? Working remote (#remotelife). So… we were surprised that most of y’all are tied to offices. The analysts are given more freedom than any other role, and designers (the “free spirits” of the tech-iverse) are more chained to an office than any other self-described role.

If you’re to break free from a desk, you probably need to take a look at your list-size — as this was the biggest factor on remote work ( even more than years worked or size of team). As you can see from the results, the higher the list size, the less strict they are for sticking butts in seats in the office. But, as corporate life goes, they still want you in the office compared to smaller list size companies who don’t mind remote workers.

About the emails themselves…

Size matters (As in matters related to list size! Geez.)

Looking at work conditions by list size got us curious about how list size impacted other factors. We found some really good correlations that we thought we’d share. For one thing, if you’re all on your lonesome, getting your list up past the 50k mark increases your chances of getting a buddy or two on board to help out.

And, perhaps un-shockingly, the larger the list, the more time spent planning the emails. Fewer than 500k? Emails get planned in about 3 days or less. 500,001 and more and you’re up to 5+ days of planning. We don’t really know what to say about the 30–60 days of planning. Does that deserve a slow clap for being so on top of things?

As the saying goes: “mo’ people, mo’ problems.” Okay, it doesn’t go like that. But you can see below that the more people you have on your list, the more emails you are working at a given time, with the median being 3 emails.

The bigger the list, the more it becomes about the Benjamins. We asked what was the most important metric for each team, and clicks and opens get less important while lifetime value and money generated per email become more more significant.

Life also seems to be much simpler for people with smaller lists. When you grow your list, it indicates that you start trying to please multiple masters, going from almost half of the population in the survey saying they just send one call-to-action to only a quarter with large lists.

Doing email is never painless, right? Right. So we wondered about the biggest pain point, and apparently it’s people. People and their opinions. Those are the worst. Especially when the list gets big. Ideas seem to run rampant on the streets the bigger the list size, compared to those with smaller lists who have a harder time figuring out what to say. And dynamic content, that tends to be a jerk all the time.

That’s the last of the graphics. We are still sitting on a ton of information, but we’re going to save some more results for our UNSPAM conference — which you should come to. (Be on the lookout for details soon! It’s gonna be rad. We promise.)

Overall, and un-shockingly, it seems like email is something that gets pawned off on too few people as a job add-on rather than a dedicated role. The good news is that the responsibility doesn’t seem to crush your souls — if you stick with it, you’ll probably maintain a sunny disposition and hope for the future. (Especially with a weekly dose of camaraderie and silliness from our kick-ass newsletter!) Growing your list will probably grow your team, but it’ll also come with more planning and more people and more opinions and more CTAs and more… stuff. Good? Bad? Who knows. But you don’t gotta go it alone. We’re here for you, friends.

As technology evolves, so does the world of email design. With millions of emails being sent daily, it\'s important to keep up with the latest trends to make your messages stand out. In this article, we\'ll be exploring the top email design trends for 2023 that you can use to create visually appealing and effective communications.

• Deep Blue-Green Hues: This year, deep blue-green hues are all the rage. These rich, earthy tones convey a sense of sophistication and provide a calming contrast to the busy digital world.

• Chunky Headlines: Bold, chunky headlines are making a comeback in 2023. These eye-catching titles grab attention and help break up the content of your email.

• Rounded Landscape Hero Images: Rounded landscape hero images are a popular trend in 2023. These images provide a visually appealing and organic feel, drawing the eye to the central message of your email.

• Outlined Table Borders: Outlined table borders provide a clean, modern look for your email designs. They are easy to read and help organize your content.

• Non-framed Text: Non-framed text gives your email a sleek, uncluttered look. It allows the content to breathe, making it easier for your audience to read and retain information.

• Extra Shadow: Shadows are making a comeback in 2023. Adding extra shadow to your designs can make your images and text pop, drawing the eye to important elements.

In addition to these trends, we\'ve also seen a rise in the use of hand models in email designs and a decline in the use of illustrations. This is because hand models provide a more personal touch, while illustrations can sometimes detract from the message.

In conclusion, these are the top email design trends for 2023. By incorporating these elements into your designs, you can create visually appealing and effective emails that stand out in the crowded inbox. So, get ahead and start experimenting with these trends today!

From the team at RGE, with love and a crystal ball full of creative inspiration. \uD83D\uDD2E

Stay Ahead of the Game: Top Six Email Design Trends for 2023

…and why they work.

Raise your hand if you’ve ever felt a little hurt from an unsubscribe. Or a thousand. Yeah, me too. When you spend weeks working on a brilliant new campaign, it’s tough not to take them personally.

But it’s about time we stopped treating all unsubscribes like bad break-ups. A good email preferences or unsubscribe page gives your subscribers the simple opportunity to get more emails they love and fewer emails they don’t.

It’s like couples counseling for you and thousands of subscribers. It’s a good thing.

As the resident email geek at MakeMusic, I spend a lot of time subscribing (and unsubscribing) to other companies’ emails looking for new ideas. I see a lot of preference centers. Every now and then, I’ll come across one that makes me smile and shows me that the company cares.

Here are some of my favorites.

#1: Spotify

When a preference center gives me a lot of options, I want to know what exactly each of those options actually means. I don’t want a list of vague categories like “Daily Digest” or “Updates”. What the hell is a “Daily Digest” anyway?

Spotify sets my expectations nicely here. First, they separate notifications into two distinct groups: “Spotify Updates” and “Your Music”. Beyond that, they (briefly) explain exactly what you can expect from each type of notification. That makes it easy for me to choose exactly what I want quickly and easily.

(Unsurprisingly, Litmus also does this beautifully.)

While I don’t think SMS works this well for every brand, it is worth noting that Spotify gives me the option to easily select which SMS notifications I receive here, too.

#2: Wistia

I’m all about setting and managing the customer’s expectations. And Wistia nails it with this preferences page. “How much Wistia do you want in your life?” is a great alternative to the standard “Email Preferences” header, especially given that frequency is listed right next to each email type.

Of course, once you set the expectation for email frequency, you have to keep to that schedule. Nobody likes the person who tells subscribers to expect one email a month and sends two a week instead. Set the expectations and stick to them.

#3: Moosejaw

There are a few things I don’t love about this preference center, but two big things that I do: the option to change email type and/or frequency, and Moosejaw’s commitment to their brand voice.

First, I appreciate when brands give me the option to change both the content and the frequency of the emails I’m getting. If a subscriber wants a tidy inbox but still hopes to hear about your best promotions once a month, take advantage of that opportunity. Sometimes asking for fewer emails doesn’t mean they hate your emails — it just means they need a little space.

Though it is easy to get carried away with too many options, I think these limited choices hit the sweet spot.

Second, we have to talk about Moosejaw’s commitment to their voice and tone. From “33% of people that opt out of Moosejaw emails have recurring possum nightmares” to “I can’t get me enough Moosejaw,” they’ve taken the opportunity to delight with silliness.

Brand authenticity is important in every customer touchpoint — especially so on an unsubscribe page. The last thing you want a subscriber to see when they’re thinking of opting out is the boring, sad, corporate version of your brand that comes through on an unloved unsubscribe page.

Would you seriously try to win back the heart of your one true love with a post-it note that says “Are you sure you want to break up with me?”? Definitely not. You’re more authentic than that. Your unsubscribe page should be, too.

#4: eROI

Marketers are always looking for new ways to push the envelope with gamification and interactivity these days. We’re seeing interactive surveys, carousels, and heaps more in emails all the time. But it’s so rare and so totally delightful to see a company that’s made a preference center as awesome as this one from eROI.

The information is relatively simple: contact details, email clients, and interests. But for every detail I enter about myself on the left, the email preview on the right updates to show a personalized email just for me.

It’s not complicated, but it turns an otherwise simple and unassuming subscription page into a fun experience for the user.

#5: Le Creuset

Le Creuset’s email preferences page makes me feel like I’m taking a BuzzFeed quiz that’s about to match me with my perfect cookware.

They don’t ask just which emails I’d like to receive; they take the opportunity to learn what colors I prefer, what kind of chef I am, and what kind of cookware I own. It feels warm and genuine and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t click every one of those little dutch ovens to watch the colors change. What a fun surprise!

We want our marketing to feel authentic and conversational and human. When we ask customers to tell us who they are and what they enjoy, we can tailor the email experience to their preferences.

This page strikes the perfect balance between “tell us about yourself” and “let us tell you about ourselves”.

#6: Hipmunk

With just three simple categories of email campaigns, Hipmunk’s unsubscribe page seems pretty lean. What I love about it, though, is that they’re using only my saved trips to show exactly which fare alerts and deals I’m already getting. This does three important things.

1. It limits my choices, making me more confident in the emails I do choose to receive.
2. It reinforces the idea that Hipmunk already knows me and my preferences. We’re old pals.
3. Assuming my preferences haven’t changed since the last time I saved a trip or updated my home city, it makes it hard for me to unsubscribe. Why wouldn’t I want to save money on my next flight out of Denver or on my way to Queenstown? These are interests Hipmunk already knows are relevant.

#7: Medium

Too many times, I’ve arrived at a preferences page after clicking “unsubscribe” in an email and realized I have no idea what I need to do to actually opt out. Recently, I came across a page that had checkboxes next to the words “daily digest” and “promotions” with nothing else. The only button below said, “apply changes”.

What? Does checking the boxes mean I want to opt in? Do checked boxes mean I want to opt out? Even if the person who designed the page knew what to do, I definitely didn’t. Not a great experience.

On unsubscribe pages and everywhere else, you have to consider the intended user flow. If something feels confusing to you, it’s definitely not going to feel right to your users.

Medium has created a great experience in using “on” and “off” buttons to highlight exactly which email someone’s getting. A couple of the categories even show frequency options this way as well. It’s simple, straightforward, and doesn’t clutter the page a bit.

Looking at these buttons, I’m confident that I’m getting the emails I signed up for and absolutely nothing else. We should all build that kind of trust with our subscribers.

⚡BONUS ROUND⚡: What NOT to Do to Your Preference Center

These are not preferences. This is a nightmare.

Somewhere out there, a really great person created this last email preference center. (I’m making assumptions here — I don’t know who made this but I believe email people are great people.)

I was unlucky enough to find it when I clicked “unsubscribe” in an email from an outdoors brand I trust and respect. That simple unsubscribe button brought me to a page titled, “Update Your Preferences”. But the only preference it asks for (in a mountain of other questions that somehow didn’t include my social security number) is whether I want HTML or Plain Text emails.

Three different fields for my birth date, three more street address fields, an “Age Bracket” open text field, a cryptic “Customer Groups” dropdown and — perhaps the most bizarre and surprising — my IP address!

YIKES.

There was at least a button allowing me to unsubscribe at the very bottom, thank goodness.

For a page titled, “Email Preferences”, I didn’t get the sense that they care very much what I prefer. It felt jarring and a little invasive, especially given the otherwise high quality of this company’s communication.

It’s a valuable reminder that we email geeks are largely responsible for building a trusting and genuine relationship with our subscribers, from the first point of contact to the very last. Even if someone clicks “unsubscribe” at the bottom of an email, we still have the opportunity and the obligation to make that landing page a great experience for them.

\uFEFFKey Takeaways:

1. Be clear in what you’re offering. Subscribers should know exactly what emails they can expect from you. Don’t use vague phrases like “daily digest” or “newsletter” without explaining what’s in those emails.
2. Give them the opportunity to choose. Not every subscriber wants every email. Let them customize the communication they get and you’ll build better relationships with them.
3. Treat subscribers as friends. Be authentic to your brand voice, especially on unsubscribe pages or preference centers. Use what you do know about your subscribers to show them that you know and you care what they’re interested in.
4. Surprise and delight. Just because you’re sad they clicked “unsubscribe” doesn’t mean the page they land on has to be. Make your unsubscribe/preferences page awesome and they might just decide to hang around for a little while.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/VqI0Bn1MczM

Cristina Gomez: I\'m Cristina, or @OHCRISTINA, if you want to tag me in anything while I\'m up here.

I\'m very excited to talk to you about emails today.

I\'m also very excited to be in Greenville because I\'m originally from Knoxville, even though I\'m living in New York City, and it\'s like three hours that way.

So while I may not be in my hometown, it\'s nice to be close by. There\'s also something about being a lot closer to a Cracker Barrel that does a lot to put me at ease.

So now that you know where I\'m from, let me tell you a little bit about what I do. For the past four years, I\'ve been working as the design director of Tattly temporary tattoos.

And then before that I was the art director of Kikkerland Design for about four and a half years. But I\'m not going to focus on that. That is just to say that I have a lot of experience working in-house and getting my hands on literally every aspect of a brand. For those of you that may not know what Tattly is, we are a designy temporary tattoo company founded by Tina Roth Eisenberg, AKA @swissmiss.

We work with professional artists and designers from all over the world to build our collection. And then with every Tattly you buy, the artist gets a portion of that sale. We\'re a small company, so as the design director, I get to be involved in all sorts of things, such as art directing our photography...

designing our wholesale catalog...

designing all of our packaging...

redesigning our website...

hand modeling...

I did have to hide under our couch to do that.

And designing our newsletter.

We send at least one newsletter a week, sometimes more, depending on if we\'re having a sale or we\'re just really excited about something.

Since I started at Tattly four years ago, I\'ve either been the one designing the newsletter, or at the very least art directing it. We\'re also really big MailChimp people, so you\'ll probably see Freddy pop up at the bottom of these a lot.

The newsletter\'s changed a lot over the years.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/welcome-here-s-your-discount-code/

Heard of Tattly? Their emails are just as good as their products. I love how they recommended a few products within this welcome email just to get you back to the site.

View the Live Email
\\n Edit on CodePen

This is our welcome email from 2016, which as you can see, is very different from the 2019 version I just showed.

When Tina started Tattly in 2011 she didn\'t plan on it becoming a real company. It was just this like a fun side project. So the emails were more about surprising and delighting. We didn\'t pay that much attention to what was being clicked on or what our open rates were. We just wanted to have fun with it.

But we\'ve grown up and we\'ve learned it\'s probably a good idea to keep track of those things. So we\'ve gotten a little smarter and we start paying attention. We A/B test now. See what works, and then we\'ve adjusted our emails over time. So I\'m going to briefly walk you through a few of our emails from over the years.

This is from 2012 and then this one you can see Tattly\'s really into puns. This is from our birthday sale in 2015. Again, more puns. I was not there for that one, but I cannot imagine how long it took to tattoo that guy. This is from the year that I started. 

One of my first tasks was to redesign the newsletter template that we used, and then I just kept making changes to it over time.

So I think this was probably from 2017, changing it some more, and then this is from when we redesigned the website in 2018. So it\'s changed a lot. And at this point is when I decided to just like take the newsletter template and just run with it. So I mess with it all the time now. 

Even as we change things, one of the main things we try to hold on to is the sense of joy that we\'ve become so well known for. One of my favorite ways that we do that is that we include a bunch of fun links to click on at the bottom of our emails.

We had taken them out for a little while because we were worried about it hurting the click-throughs to our site. But we realized that it was kind of like taking away some of the brand heart. So we just brought them back a little while ago, which makes me very happy. 

Our current newsletter template, like I said, really gives me a lot of room to play around with it. And I\'m very lucky that we\'re encouraged to experiment and play with the design of it.

So I\'m always looking at the trends to see how I can keep pushing our newsletter design while also trying to use as much live text as possible.

So... using some data from Really Good Emails along with my research. I\'m going to walk you through nine of the biggest email design trends from the past year.

I\'m going to tell you some of the pros and cons of each, and I\'m also going to show you how I\'ve used them in the Tattly newsletter.

So first up, wiggly blobs.

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/fucbP1Beuzwp78dTjxCw/

Or as I like to refer to it, the Chobani effect.

Blobs are kind of a big deal in design right now. So of course they\'re working their way into emails as well. And I can\'t blame people for that. I think they\'re a great way to bring a lot of fun, color and playfulness into a newsletter.

Plus as a border, it like kind of helps break things up a bit out of the traditional grid or column. I love how they kind of box the text in the little shapes and then also use this little zigzag to kind of keep it from being just like a straight line divider. 

Or in this one by MindNode that illustration could have just been in a rectangle, but they put it in a blob, which in addition to making that image look like a thought bubble, adds some overall playfulness to the email while still looking like clean and professional. In general, I think there\'s like a really big overall shift in emails, trying to not feel like they\'re trapped in this 600-pixel wide rectangle. So details like that help. 

I\'ve also used blobs. This is a recent favorite of mine which I made for the launch of our new artist, Amber Vittoria.

I normally put our images in rectangles, but I\'ve secretly been waiting for the right moment to put our images in blobs.

I\'m not kidding. I wanted to do an email like this. Amber\'s work is very blobby, so it seemed like the right time to pull that out.

So in conclusion, the pros of blobs is that they\'re fun, trendy way to make your email more fun and playful. They can work well as dividers or frames for images and break your emails out of the box quite literally.

The downside is that it can feel very much like you\'re just jumping on a trend and can make your emails look like everything else out there as a result. And then maybe depending on your brand, they are too fun? This is not a problem for me personally, but maybe it is for you. I don\'t know. 

Number two, beige.

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/4iGhyf5oM3343Hr9ptio/

Beige is everywhere. It does seem like more and more brands are incorporating it into their branding and their marketing. I feel like this one also goes a little hand in hand with the blobs because again, I feel like Chobani is a little bit to blame here.

Here\'s an example of them bringing that beige into their newsletter.

How nice. And again, also another example of an email not trying to feel very rectangular. But back to beige. I feel like beige historically has a bad reputation for being a boring color, but I feel like that\'s not the case anymore. I think it works well for a couple of reasons.

I think it feels modern and clean. I feel like a lot less techie startup brands seem to be using it lately. It works because it\'s not as stiff as an all-white email, but also not as like wild and crazy as a brightly colored background might be. It\'s like the perfect middle ground. It\'s fancy, yet approachable.

I also really like beige because it works nicely as a canvas for other bright colors. So you know how much designers love being told to make things pop. So the next time someone tells you that, consider putting it on beige. I use beige a lot, mostly because of this specific reason. It just really works well with a lot of different colors.Also, more blobs.

I use beige a lot also. in this newsletter we were featuring new designs by Kelsey Osei. We wanted to give the campaign the feeling of an old textbook. So we use beige as the background for the diorama inspired photos that we took. 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/new-flamingo-and-black-widow/

The pros of beige. It can feel upscale, but approachable as well as having a nice, clean, natural feel. And it also works as a great canvas for bright colors. On the downside, I know I said earlier that beige isn\'t boring, but if it\'s the only color you use, it definitely can start to feel that way. So consider mixing it up every once in a while. Maybe try tan or olive. You choose. 

Number three, bigger, bolder type. They say bigger is better. Well, that\'s not always the case. A lot of emails have been using like really big attention-grabbing type at the top of their emails. And while it\'s eye-catching, depending on what you write, it could maybe be confusing. 

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/q9PifYkp6Z6G0IcWE6Lp/

I feel like both of these emails are good examples of that. Like, I don\'t know what \\"Modern heist.\\" means or \\"Say bye. Get pie.\\", but then I like, look down here, I\'m like, Oh, $25 and delivery fee credit. No code required. Like, that\'s much more valuable to me.

Why didn\'t you tell me that sooner? It leaves me feeling a little bit like this.

In these examples, the type is large, but also is communicating something of a little more substance.

I am not a finance person, but I assume the example on the left is telling me something I would want to hear right at the top. And then on the right, it\'s communicating to me a sense of urgency. \\"Last Chance to Buy\\" is the kind of thing that will make me click on an email. 

We\'ve also been using big type at Tattly, especially when we have a sale. One of the things that we\'ve learned through all of our tracking is that we\'ve seen more success when we get straight to business with our sales emails. 

We usually show a nice photo at the top, instead of text. So we try to put all of the pertinent info right at the top of the email, very attention-grabbing. So the word \\"sale\\". What the discount is, how long it lasts, et cetera. 

The pro of big type, can get your point across very quickly and clearly, whether it\'s a sense of urgency or some very important financial information that you might understand if you\'re into that kind of thing. The downside is depending on what you write, it could be confusing. So just consider what words you\'re putting up there to make sure that it\'s saying something.

Overlapping blocks. This one I\'ve seen everywhere lately. What I mean when I say overlapping blocks is when there\'s a rectangle, and then on top of it you put another rectangle. The most common use of it is in this email where the background rectangle has some text on it and the foreground rectangle is a photo.

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/rVufXaXRHp8iQknY103j/

As a design element, I find it to be really useful actually. It\'s really helpful when you want to like put some text ahead of an image, or like near an image, but you can\'t put the text on top of the image. So it kind of lets you combine them in like a nice pleasing design-y way. It also can again, help break things out of the box.

I know that that\'s not two rectangles, but work with me. It works well I think. That looks like a very fun Frappuccino on its extremely trendy blob background. Also side note, I worked at Starbucks for a few years. Frappuccinos are the least fun thing to make in that store.

Again people are trying to avoid having their emails feel too rigid or rectangular lately. So I find it a little funny that one of the ways we\'re trying to make things feel like less of a rectangle is by adding another rectangle.

I finally used this at Tattly when we were getting ready for our eighth birthday sale last year. The biggest sale we have every year. For the theme, we were playing with the idea of using a magic eight ball as our business consultant. To make the imagery work, we had to be able to put like a question ahead of the image.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/last-day-50-off-tattly-with-code-magic8/

https://codepen.io/reallygoodemails/pen/KOMmNP

Adding the rectangle helped kind of bring those elements together in a design-y way. And then to keep things consistent, I use that visual element throughout the rest of the email. And fun fact, Dr. Otto still lives on my desk and as a beloved member of team Tattly, or Dr Rr Otto MBA, MD, PhD business advisor at Tattly.

So in conclusion, the pros of overlapping blocks are that it can break up the space. It\'s also a good way of bringing type and images together. The downside is that it could maybe make things too busy if you go overboard with it. I didn\'t show any examples of that happening, but I\'m sure it\'s out there.

Transparent illustrations. These are also definitely popping up a lot more. Again, it ties into that overall trend of emails, trying to feel less rectangular and grid-like and opening them up. We don\'t want to be in a box.

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/Kbj1vKeltUde9mWKaHNk/

I\'m a fan because I like good illustrations in general. I think these illustrations also make things feel editorial and like in these examples, you see them being used in emails that are more about brand storytelling rather than trying to sell you something.

I also keep imagining how different that Hawthorne email would feel if it was like a photo of a guy with a head full of shampoo checking his phone rather than an illustration. And I\'d say that that illustration was the right move here. 

I also want to take a brief moment to call Aesop if you\'re not familiar with them. They are a very fancy skincare brand. Looking at this email made me realize, I don\'t think I\'ve ever seen a real person in any of their marketing photography. It\'s just illustrations like this, or photos of their nice packaging just lounging about in different environments. Like these are all different header images from like the last month or two of emails.

Just kind of weird. We\'re a much more photo-heavy brand at Tattly, so I don\'t do too much with this specific trend, but I try to use the illustrations we have in conjunction with our photos to, again, break things out of the box and make them more playful.

So in conclusion, the benefit of a transparent illustration is that it can feel very, editorial. Also breaks emails out of the box. The downside could be if your illustrations are bad, maybe this isn\'t for you.

On the opposite end of those nice transparent images, we have 3D images and GIFs. This is a product of our time. 3D animation is more and more common.

https://reallygoodemails.com/mike/collections/eOB3ChLoHV9aOBbMm9r9/

So of course 3D images are showing up more as well, and of course they are. 3D images can be incredibly eye-catching and impressive, and it feels very modern and cool.

It\'s like going from Mewtwo Strikes Back to Mewtwo Strikes Back: Evolution. Although I\'m pretty nostalgic for the first version, so I\'m a little evenly split on this one.

3D GIFs are also popping up a lot more as well. I like how this one blends like a flat illustration, but with the 3d feel and it does a great job of capturing the chaotic essence of those little scooters. I\'m forever grateful that we don\'t have them in New York, cause that would be a nightmare. 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/now-arriving-lyft-scooters/

https://codepen.io/reallygoodemails/pen/eqydmL

This is a nice execution using photographs, but you may have noticed that it\'s only really big brands that are using this right now, since it\'s a lot more time consuming and expensive to create 3D images.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/meet-arthur/

https://codepen.io/reallygoodemails/pen/OJJjZEz

So actually I have no examples of our emails to share. We run into this issue a lot at Tattly where people think we\'re a big company, but we\'re just nine people in a room trying our best.

So 3D images aren\'t really in our budget. So instead, here\'s a photo of some custom Tattly of 3D illustrations that we printed for The Wall Street Journal, a much bigger company than us, that could afford these images. And also a good time to mention that we do make custom tattoos. So talk to me. 

The pro. Looks very modern. They\'re impressive. They make you look like you have a lot of money. On the downside, they\'re expensive. So it might not be a practical approach for a lot of brands.

Number seven, circle bullet points, circular bullet points.

https://reallygoodemails.com/mike/collections/GV3Y9TNEVdcZTlQdPoUD/

It seems like brands are taking little icons that were trending before and putting them in circles. Ooh. This is pretty nice actually, because it can bring some unity to illustrative bullet points that might have looked a little more cluttered otherwise.

I think it\'s also a nice way to take what might\'ve been a very unexciting bulleted list and making it a little more approachable. This email is giving me a list of things to do and it feels somehow less stressful because of the little icons, although I think the little red triangle always stresses me out.

It doesn\'t just have to be spot illustrations. This is an email I just got from Prose over the weekend, and they use photos instead. And I thought it looked nice. The rest of the email also has like a ton of these other trends, but I just wanted to focus on that. 

Although. Tread with caution. I feel like sometimes bullet points can feel more cluttered. For example, in this email, I think the bulleted list is kind of hard to follow just in general.

I just don\'t think it\'s laid out super nicely. and then the numbers there also relate to the photo at the top. So like, depending on how you\'re looking at it, you have to scroll, like back and forth to know what\'s going on.

Which is kind of the opposite of how a bulleted list should make me feel? They could have like taken example from Prose and put the photos in the bullet points instead.

We don\'t use bullet points a lot, but in this email we kind of use them to help communicate a tiered discount that we were offering to our wholesale customers. And then also shout out to beige, blobs, and large type again. 

So pros. It\'s a clean way to introduce spot illustrations into your emails, and it\'s organized usually. And then on the downside, it can make your email look more cluttered, which is again, the literal opposite of what we\'re trying to achieve with these, so please proceed with caution.

Night mode. This is a big one. It just keeps getting bigger.

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/ZFIxy9LWkl0wkNAAGrF7/

Black and green were trending before, but ever since Gmail started supporting night mode, dark emails are popping up even more and in a lot of different ways. For example, so many brands use this in their Black Friday promos, which is a great play on words, and also a great way to make an email look very different from the rest.

So like, imagine only getting emails with a light background from a brand, and then suddenly the black one appears and you\'re like, Whoa, must be a sale. Better get on that.

Of course, black still feels very techie and expensive, so you still see it with a lot of brands when they\'re showcasing their latest gadgets. Like I immediately feel like these products are going to cost me hundreds of dollars just based on the visuals here.

It also works great for communicating literal nighttime, like on the email, on the left. And then I also really like the one on the right for showing off new black and white colorways for their product. And I feel like black emails can look serious, but this one manages to feel a lot more playful than in the previous examples.

And there\'s also a lot of emails showing up using not just black, but other dark colors such as navy and green, and also spot illustrations in bullet points. Very trendy.

We\'ve also embraced night mode. This is from when we launched our glow in the dark designs last year.

So obviously this was to give the whole newsletter a very nighttime feel and also make it feel different from our other launches. Cause it was like the first time we were doing glow in the dark. So I want it to be like, surprise, here\'s something new. and then I also had a lot of fun with this GIF of the photos changing from light to dark. And that is my hand in all of those pictures.

This newsletter is from last year\'s Tattly-wean campaign, which is when we use Tattly to make a ton of Halloween costumes and then force everyone in the office to take photos.

I was going with kind of a haunted portrait vibe, so I made the newsletter dark to give it a spooky feel. And I\'m just putting this GIF in here because I love it. And also fun fact, this girl here in the Midsommar costume is Elizabeth. She writes all of our newsletters. So, hi Elizabeth. I was dressed as a Sharknado, but I\'m not showing you that.

Pros of night mode, it can be a really good way to make a specific campaign feel very different from the rest of your emails. It can feel very techie and expensive, and it can also set a specific mood in a very effective way. And it\'s also easy on the eyes when you can\'t sleep and you\'re staring at your phone at 1:00 AM. On the downside, like beige, it can feel one-note if you use it too often. So think of this trend like a little black dress. You only save it for special occasions.

Number nine, plant accents or plantcents. Plants are a huge trend, not just in emails, but everywhere. So of course, that trend is making its way into emails, especially in the photography realm.

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/xkNdz1WGMSz2meFYhDRy/

So like having the added plants in these images, I feel like immediately makes these shots a lot more aspirational.

And dare I say, a little happier. I don\'t know if you\'re familiar with The Sill, but you might know their motto. It\'s \\"Plants Make People Happy\xae\\". If you\'re not familiar with them, you should. They will ship plants to your door. 

And it\'s true. Plants do make people happy. We even have a plant shrine in our office. It makes us very happy and we use it a lot for photos.

Plants can also help communicate a very, natural, sustainable feel. For example, nothing in this email says anything about what this product is, but because of the added plant imagery, I can probably assume that this is some very nice eco-friendly toilet paper that Smiles Davis just ordered. Although I hope he ordered more than one roll, cause that would be silly.

Naturally we use plants in our photography all the time. That\'s the plant shrine again. This year we even launched some new plant Tattly with illustrator, Claudia Pearson. So of course we included a lot of plant imagery in the campaign.

We even featured the founder of The Sill, Eliza Blank in our email series, highlighting small businesses that we love.

So the pros of plants, it can make you happier because plants make people happy. Plants can also make your photos look more aspirational or bring in a nice element of color, and they can also help communicate sustainability. On the downside, maybe plants don\'t make you happy, but also I would maybe ask yourself to examine why you feel that way.

Before we move on, you\'re probably like, wow, that was sure a lot of like nice, trendy emails. But should I try to use any of these in my marketing?

And to that I say, sure. If you have a very rigid newsletter template, see if you can try incorporating some of these trends in a small way. Maybe throw in a blob, maybe try a plant. And of course, I think the most important takeaway is that you make sure you actually have a reason to use a trend and you\'re not just using it to be trendy.

So don\'t force something if it\'s not working. Make sure it fits your brand or what you\'re trying to communicate. And you too will have a Really Good Email. 

And then of course, in memoriam, I\'d like to take a moment to remember a few of the trends we\'ve lost along the way.

I was going to play some music here, but I found out that Keynote won\'t let you play a song across multiple slides. So just pick your favorite sappy song and like imagine it running through your head right now.

Adi\xf3s gradients. We will miss your smooth transition from one color to another.

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/rOYuccTPmkBp0IJ72jLI/

Goodbye diagonals. Hello, wavy blobs. Straight lines are for squares.

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/zjTDBeVdEMSKLJJX07jD/

A light goodbye to neon green as we learned that other colors can exist on a black background. 

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/L9YTPVKZrLOazTbyzwU1/

That\'s all. If you want to keep up with Tattly\'s emails, you can sign up on our website tattly.com when this pop up appears or there\'s a spot to sign up in the footer as well, and you get a discount when you sign up as it very clearly states.

If you want to follow me, I\'m on most social media platforms AKA Twitter and Instagram at @OHCRISTINA, although it\'s mostly just stuff relating to my hobbies and not my design work, just FYI.

Also if you want to ask me any questions or just say hi, don\'t hesitate to come up and talk to me. I\'m nice. I like making friends and that\'s all.

Thank you and enjoy the rest of the conference.

From blobs to transparent illustrations, Tattly\'s Design Director explores the top email design trends from 2019.

When building a first-class customer experience, every little detail counts. Leaders like Spotify, Amazon and Netflix have ushered in a new era of convenience and personalization we didn’t know was possible.

Now it’s on all brands to live up to these high standards. Though challenging, there’s hope—83% of consumers will share their data in return for more personalized experiences. This is where Iterable can help!

In this class, experts from the Iterable team will dive deep into all things data feeds between your ESP and outside sources. By mastering data feeds, you’ll be able to send time-sensitive content at the perfect moment for each customer.

You’ll learn how to:

• Use data feeds to personalize campaigns, like active offers and blog newsletters
• Differentiate public and managed data feeds and how to leverage them
• Create individualized email templates using Iterable’s handlebars logic

Who should come?

B2C marketers that focus on customer lifecycle / retention / CRM

Email, mobile and cross-channel strategists

Verticals: retail/e-commerce, subscription services, media & entertainment, food & beverage, travel, consumer tech

Enterprise businesses looking to replace a legacy marketing cloud

People looking to see what Iterable is capable of

Who should maybe skip this one?

B2B marketers, Small businesses, Marketers in highly regulated industries (healthcare, finance, etc.), developers and designers who strictly write code and design from scratch

Note:

This class is part 2 in a 3-part series. While you\'re encouraged to attend all 3 classes, each class stands well on its own. Choose 1, 2, or all 3!

Alyssa Jarrett is Head of Brand & Content at Iterable, where she specializes in creating data-driven content to educate growth marketers on how to develop world-class customer engagement. She has previously served in marketing roles for companies in SaaS and big data, including Ripple, Objectivity, Splice Machine, and Cray.

Katie Barends is a New Jersey native turned California girl now living in Denver (with a few years in Florida along the way). Katie got her start in journalism, focusing on communicating and storytelling in every interaction. She has a knack for strategic conversations and helping others realize and achieve their goals. She\'s been in the tech world for the last 5 years working with Fortune 100 and C-Suite decision-makers across all industries. In that time, Katie has held a variety of roles in solutions consulting, sales coaching, and product and customer marketing to support both not only customers and prospects but also internal partners.

*All classes are recorded and will be sent out to all registrants for those that can\'t attend live and/or want to rewatch over and over again (who wouldn\'t?!)

**By joining us for this class, you’ll also get free newsletters from Really Good Emails and Iterable(if you aren\'t already). You can unsubscribe from either or both at any time.

In part 2 of this 3-part series, you\'ll learn intermediate personalization using data feeds and other 3rd-party integrations.

How to make email that your recipients can access and understand regardless of disabilities.

Timothy: Hi, I\'m Timothy Buck talking about why accessible email matters. A little bit about me - This is me and my wife, Alyssa, she\'s an artist in San Francisco.

I\'m a product manager, as my day job, also a podcaster and writer, and you can find my podcast at accessible.fm if you\'re interested. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/P_XH6PKo0pI

With that, let\'s jump into what is accessible email. Can I get a couple of people to raise your hands and share what you think accessible email is? Anybody?

Audience: Email that can be used by people who need to use a screen reader. 

Timothy: That\'s right. I think there was another hand behind her. 

Audience: People who are colorblind. People who have situational reasons for why they may need accessibility. 

Timothy: Right, yeah, that\'s good. I\'m going to share my definition of it. This is a combination from a bunch of different things, so I can\'t claim this as purely mine, but I\'ve just pulled it together from different definitions that I found over the years. Accessible email is an email that your recipients can access and understand.

That sounds super broad, but it\'s true. Accessible email is an email that your recipients can access and understand, and that is foundational for whatever you\'re trying to do. Whether you\'re trying to sell something, or you need them to know something for a legal reason, or whatever you\'re doing, you need them to be able to access it and understand it, whomever your recipient happens to be. If you don\'t get that right, you\'re not going to have success. I\'m going to add one more bit to this, which is, regardless of disabilities.

So, accessible email is an email that your recipients can access and understand, regardless of disabilities. This is where most people focus, as you can see since many of the answers were around specific disabilities. That is a really important part of making email accessible, but accessible email is broader than that. It\'s more foundational than that. It is making sure your email works for every person and in every situation that they may be in. If you can do that, then you will find more success.

So, how many people need accessible emails? Here are some stats, although these are ten years old from the Census Bureau. This will get updated when the next census happens. However, there were 8 million Americans with vision impairment, 15 million with cognitive impairment, and 7 million with some hearing impairment. The World Health Organization recently studied how many people in the world have vision impairment. I don\'t understand how they came up with this number, that seems high to me, but that\'s what they came up with, that 2.2 billion people have some vision impairment in the world. That\'s a fourth of the world. If that\'s true, we should be taking that into account when sending emails to people. However, to answer my main question, how many people need accessible email, the answer is 100% of the recipients.

That may sound sort of flippant to an extent, but it\'s true. All of them need accessible email because when we go back to that definition, accessible email is an email that your recipients can access and understand. Without that, the purpose of your email is gone. Whatever you\'re trying to do becomes useless if they can\'t access and understand it. 

I wanted to add this note here, that designing for everyone, actually makes your email better for everyone. You\'ll see that as a trend in the things that I explain throughout the rest of this presentation. I\'m going to give a lot of concrete examples of what you can do to make your email more accessible, and for many of those, there will be other impacts. Doing this good thing for a smaller population of your recipients is good for them, but it also ends up being good for everybody. Making your email accessible is good design; it\'s just a well-designed email. 

So, what can you do about it? What can you do to make your email accessible? You can do many things, and I\'m going to talk about those in just one second. However, I think there\'s one more point I want to make before that, which will help you understand how I\'ve structured how I\'m talking through the different things you can do. We need to talk about the categories of different types of impairments that people may have. 

They have visual impairments. We saw that in the numbers. Many people have different types of visual impairments, and that\'s a spectrum. Some people are fully blind, some people are colorblind, some wear glasses, and there are people in all these different parts of the spectrum. There are many kinds of visual impairments, and all of them matter. We have the same thing with cognitive impairment. This could be very young users, this could be very old users, this could be people who have some mental illness, but they still need to use email. Then we have people with motor impairments who have difficulty with the ability to move their hands, their body, or whatever they\'re doing to control the computer that you\'re using.

Sometimes it can be more challenging for individual users to do certain things with their email, and we should keep that in mind. Lastly, hearing, much like visual, there is a spectrum of people with different hearing abilities, and all of them matter. Like the woman mentioned in the back, when we think of accessibility, we often think of these types of impairments, and that\'s how I\'m going to talk through it because it\'s real, and it\'s the best way to categorize this type of work. However, there are also situational impairments, so there may be, let\'s say motor, there may not be that many people in your user base who have that specific impairment, but, if somebody has a broken arm, or they\'re holding their child, or whatever it may be, it can be more difficult for them to use their phone or their computer. They also may be in a noisy room, and hearing the audio in your email can be difficult for each of these situational reasons. A person who may be fully capable would need a more accessible email in these situations. 

So, again, many people make decisions about investing in accessibility, based on the percentage of their population they think has each of these impairments, but it\'s much broader than that. Now, I\'m going to go through them in that order, and we will talk first about visual impairments. What specific things can you do with your email to make it more accessible to people with visual impairments?

One is to start with a clear hierarchy. This is basic design, you all know this, but it\'s important for people with visual impairments. Here\'s an email I got from the Really Good Email site, which gives an example. I think this is from Bureau. At the top, the first thing you\'re supposed to read is the part in big black letters. The next thing you see is that it has a yellow background with a larger font size. If you go to the paragraph, it is in smaller text, but the most important information in that paragraph is bolded. This is a way, with clear hierarchy, to understand what you\'re supposed to look at. 

From a technical perspective, I\'m going to talk about the code for just one second here. Some things are really important for people who use screen readers, and that is using semantic elements. I know some people out here are probably still using tables to lay things out, but if you can switch to using semantic elements like an H1 for the header, an H2 for the secondary header, and a P for the paragraph. This makes it much easier for people who use screen readers to understand what\'s in your email. For some of you, you may not know what a screen reader is, but it just does what it sounds like. It reads the screen for people who are completely blind or almost completely blind. They use a screen reader that reads what\'s on the screen to them, and they can hear it, they can click forward, and it will first read them the header, in this case, \\"Here\'s some need to know information.\\" Then, they hit next, and it\'ll say that next piece of information. However, if you use a table or don\'t have it organized in a hierarchically correct way, it\'ll read them out of order, and that will make absolutely no sense to that user. They will be completely confused because your email is not communicating with them. 

So not only is using a clear hierarchy good for everybody, it\'s good for people who use screen readers, and that\'s important. Another thing you can do if you are using tables is that you can use this roll presentation, and it tells the screen reader, \\"Hey, this isn\'t an actual table that\'s being used to display tabular information. Instead, it\'s being used to lay something out\\". It tells the screen reader that it is a presentation table, and the screen reader will do its best to read it in the way that it thinks is correct. That makes it a lot better for those users, so if you are still using tables, please use role presentation as it is better for people using screen readers. 

Next for people with visual impairments, check contrast, and size. Again, this is good for everybody. If you have clear contrast it\'s good for everybody, it\'s easier to read, and it\'s easier to understand. Using font sizes under 14 px is not good. The average phone user out there moves their font size up on their phone because it\'s easier to read and understand. We should be using larger font sizes so those people can understand and can actually access the emails that you\'re making. The same thing with contrast, contrast is the color difference between the foreground and background. Right here, we have black text on a white background, which is very contrasting. If you look over to the visual impairments part of the slide, that\'s black text on a blue background, which provides less contrast making it harder for certain people to read.

There are excellent tools to check this, so you don\'t have to know what this is, you can go to Web Accessibility in Mind. They have a free contrast checker and a bunch of information here. You can also Google free contrast checker, there are hundreds of them, and they give you a grade ranking of like, A, B, so on, so you\'ll know how much contrast you have. 

Next, this is for the colorblind users out there: don\'t use color as the only way to communicate, as that is something colorblind users won\'t understand. They won\'t see it. There\'s a bunch of different types of colorblindness. It\'s not just red and green, so you can\'t decide if it\'s red and green. Yes, color is essential for communicating to a large portion of your audience, but if, for example, you have a paragraph of text and it has a link in it, don\'t only have the link be a different color, because some users may not see. The link has to be underlined or have some other indication that it\'s a link. You should also take that same concept and apply it to anything you\'re communicating. If you\'re communicating only through color, then part of your audience won\'t know what you\'re trying to say. 

Next, provide alt text (alt tags) for important images. Alt text stands for alternative text. For people who are blind, they\'re using a screen reader. This used to be a huge problem as the screen reader would only read the file\'s name. For example, it would say, \\"IMG underscore 1234 dot JPG,\\" which communicates nothing to the users. Since then, in email, in particular, screen readers skip images. They don\'t say anything about it. If something in your image is important for the user to know, you need to have alt text. Alt-text is a little tag that describes what\'s in the picture. You can put whatever text you want in there, but what\'s important is that you don\'t say \\"person\\" because that still communicates nothing. You have to describe what the image is supposed to be communicating to the user so that they understand it. It can be a sentence. It can be three words, as long as whatever the image is supposed to be is communicated to the user. 

Next, always use clear link text. Again, this is true for every user product. If it says \\"click here,\\" that is bad for screen reader users as they don\'t know where they\'re going. The way it\'s described with the screen reader makes this a little bit confusing to them. So, instead, tell them what you\'re trying to get them to do. This is, again, good for every user but particularly good for screen reader users.

Then, I\'m going to say this after each section, but you need to test your emails. When you\'re going to send an email, you QA the email so that it is doing what it\'s supposed to be doing, and the people see it the way you want it to look for your different email clients. However, if you are implementing accessibility, you should check-in and make sure that it\'s working. You can\'t just do it once and forget about it. You need to make sure it\'s continuing to work for those users. 

My last point here is to ask for feedback. Again, you know this, because feedback is how you become better. It\'s important to ask for feedback. If you can find users of yours that have a visual impairment, ask them how you\'re doing. In your general feedback form, you can also make an option to give feedback on accessibility, so that those people can provide feedback and you can organize it, so you know why they were providing that specific type of feedback. 

Next, we\'ll talk about cognitive impairment. The rest of these are going to be a little bit shorter because in email, maybe not with AMP because once AMP comes around, there will be more that you need to keep in mind. However, with regular HTML email, you can do fewer things for these other people groups.

For cognitive impairment, check their reading level of what you\'ve written. You can write something in a way that is confusing to users who are not like you. For instance, you understand your product well and what you\'re working on well, but you\'re on the inside so that is super clear to you. However, if you can check the reading level and make sure that it\'s written in a clear, easy to understand way, it will be better for all of your users, but it will especially be better for users who have cognitive impairments. 

There are things like readable.com, which I think is paid. There are probably others, and you can Google \\"reading level checker.\\" They grade the reading level and tell you if this is a master\'s level, college level, high school level, eighth-grade level, fifth-grade level. It\'s common practice to assume that if you\'re under eighth-grade level or around that, then you\'re probably okay. This is especially important if you work in something like finance or something like that, as the topic is more complicated. It may be harder for you to write in a way that can be understood.

I think it\'s important to at least check. If you can look at it and use one of these checkers to see \\"oh, I\'m writing at a Ph.D. level.\\" That is not good because many of your users do not understand what you\'re trying to say. Again, this is also bad for everybody. This is bad for all of your users because it\'s harder for them to understand what you\'re trying to communicate, and they\'re less likely to read it. They\'re less likely to pay attention to it because it takes more work. So, if you can simplify your language, it\'s better for everybody. 

You also need a clear call to action in your email. Again, this is basic email design. You all know this, but I\'m repeating it because it\'s particularly important for people with cognitive impairments. If you have a call to action that is very, very clear, it tells them what you want them to do and how to do it, then they\'re more likely to use it. They\'re more likely to understand it, and your email is going to be more successful. 

Lastly, make sure you continue to test. You need to use those reading level checkers on every email you write to see what your scores are and make sure that your call to actions are good on every email you write. It would be best if you also asked people for feedback. Cognitive impairment sometimes gets a bad name, and people feel like it\'s demeaning somehow, but there are people all along the spectrum that need to use your emails.

Again, the cognitive impairment doesn\'t have to be a mental illness of any sort; there are many different reasons why they may not understand what you\'re saying. It\'s great to talk to really new email users who are young or speak to the oldest users of your products, who aren\'t as used to using technology. Those are really important people groups to make sure they understand it because if you write it in a way that works for them, it will be a better email for everybody.

Moving on to motor impairments. Firstly, build a large button and link tap areas. Again, examples of motor impairments can be if you\'re holding a kid, you have a broken arm, or you\'re holding your phone, and you\'re trying to do this, but the tap area is a tiny button, you\'re going to miss it. You\'re going to get annoyed, and you\'re going to give up. You\'re going to try to hit it and hit the wrong thing. It\'s going to be frustrating. It\'s terrible for users no matter what, especially if this is an impairment that they have all the time.

It can also affect somebody who has a situational impairment, and it\'s better if you have big, easy-to-click buttons. Links are an example where often people will put links in a paragraph, it\'ll be a word, and the next word is a different link, but they\'re right beside each other. That makes it hard to tap the correct link, and you could easily click the wrong one.

Again, if there\'s anything you can do not to do that, avoid it. Please don\'t do it, so it\'s clear where they have to click, and then they don\'t tap or click the wrong area. Again, and I\'m repeating this because it\'s important.

Lastly, you need to test these things and ask people for feedback.

Moving on to hearing impairment. This one may be a little bit less applicable for many of you, but there are videos and audio sent over email, as well as links in your emails. Keep them in mind because if your call to action is to watch this video and click the link and they can\'t hear the video, that is not good for your user. It\'s bad user experience.

To help with this, provide audio transcription. If you have audio-only content, you need to give a transcription under it. This is basic. You can use something like Descript, which is what I use for my podcast. One option is for you to use their auto transcriber, and the computer tries to transcribe it and gets it 90% correct. Some parts of it are going to be way off and funny.

Ideally, you\'ll go through and fix that in their tool, which they give you the ability to do. That\'s a cheap option, something like a penny per minute. You can also pay about $1 per minute (that seems to be the average) on all the different sites out there to transcribe whatever your audio is. If you have a 5-minute video, that\'s nothing, and if you have an hour-long video, that\'s still only $60. Your company can spend 60 bucks on transcribing audio.

Another important thing is captions for your videos and captions are good for everybody. People like watching Netflix with captions, I know I do. It\'s nice because if something happens and it\'s loud, it\'s nice to be able to continue to understand what\'s going on. They\'re just a nice additional affordance for people to consume that content. Descript can also be used to create captions for your videos.

The way this works is that once you have a transcription of the video, pretty much every video player can upload a transcription file. I know YouTube and Vimeo do; basically, everybody has this option. You upload the file, and that file says \\"at this second in the video, this is the text that should be on the screen,\\" and so it will put the text up there if they turn on closed captioning. Again, the expense for this is about $1 per minute and that dollar per minute is paying somebody there to listen to it and make sure the transcription is correct. That transcription will be very accurate, about 99% accurate, and it will be an excellent experience for those users.

Lastly, you need to make sure you test and then ask for feedback. 

The call to action is for everybody here, in all the millions and millions of emails that you all are sending, is that you make them in a way that your recipients can access and understand,

regardless of any disabilities, they may have.

You can find me, say hi afterward. That\'s it. Any questions?

Audience: If there\'s an image and text, what\'s the best way to do the alt tag?

Timothy: I would say I don\'t add an alt tag if the image isn\'t providing new information. If the alt text would be a repeat of the header, then that\'s a waste because now the person listening to it will hear, for example, \'we have 10% off\\", but that\'s just duplicating, so it\'s not useful. It would be best if you didn\'t use an alt tag in that situation. However, if it is separate information that will be different and interesting to the listener, then describe it. 

Audience: Is it OK to put alt tags on design elements like horizontal rules? 

Timothy: I don\'t think that\'s incredibly valuable. You could use it as a way to say there\'s a new section. That can be valuable, and I guess it depends on the situation.

Audience: Should we use non-printing spaces to prevent widows? Does that impact screen readers? 

Timothy: I don\'t believe it does. I think screen readers are not going to mention spaces, so I think that should be fine.

April: \\\"Welcome to AMP for Email: The 411\\\", everything you've been dying to know. I am April Mullen and the director of strategic insights at Sparkpost, and I'm one of the co-founders of Women of Email.

Jen: I'm Jen Capstraw, president and co-founder of Women of Email. If you're not familiar with us, we're a 501c3 nonprofit association for women whose careers touch the email marketing niche. Many of you are here right now, any members here? We have stickers in the back and we're going to take a group picture at the very beginning of the lunch break in front of the \\\"step and repeat\\\" so please join us for that. Also, we want to give a special shout out to our friend John Harmer. He's a product manager at Google. A lot of this content and a lot of these insights came directly from him. However, he couldn't join us here today, so he has permitted us to share this with you. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/fBwl8ryQE0A

So what are we going to be talking about today? So the first thing we're going to do is to bring some context to the history of email, and where AMP fits into that. Then, we're going to explain what is AMP for email, as there does seem to be some confusion among some folks who are a little bit less technical. Then, we've got some cool examples of AMP in action. We're excited about AMP. We're freakishly excited about AMP, that's no surprise, and that's why we're up here talking about it. So, we're going to explain why we're so excited and what we think it means for the future of email, but also we hear many concerns, not everyone is as stoked as we are. So, we're going to address those concerns as well. We can debunk some of them, some of them are very valid, and then we're going to talk about what you can do now if you're interested in AMP for email. 

All right, so join us in our time machine. All right, there was a little hint about this guy in yesterday's presentation, but this guy, Gary, we can't figure out how to pronounce his last name. Maybe \\\"The-uk\\\" or \\\"Thirk\\\".

April: I think it's Turk. 

Jen: He is my LinkedIn connection, I did send him a connection, and he accepted, so we are very close friends now. He sent the world's first email marketing message in 1978 to 400 people. It produced $13 million in computer equipment sales.

April: Gangbuster RP, right? 

Jen: Right from the get-go, our ROI was unmatched. Then, fast forward to 1996, Hotmail was introduced. Notice the HTML is capitalized in Hotmail. So before Hotmail was introduced, the only folks who had email were people who were using it for work or you had a dial-up connection at home, and you were using your ISP. Hotmail was the great democratizer, we all had access to email, and that's really when email marketing as we know it today was born. Now I dug back into my old Yahoo account, which I got after my Hotmail account, to 2006. This is the oldest email marketing message I could find that still had live image links. Thank you for never turning off that's server. So that's what email looked like in 2006, and this is what it looks like today. So you can see, we've advanced a little bit right. The original one seems a little bit like a website and a flyer smooshed together. We've made some advances, and I can scroll down show you what the rest of this message looks like. Pretty simple, straightforward.

So we've had a lot of advances in email since 1996, since 2006. Mobile technology has driven us forward over the last, say like 7-8 years. We've got technology that enables cool automation and personalization. We see some experimentation with interactive email and kinetic email, but here's where the fonts go completely wonky, and you can't even see what they say. You will get a copy of this, and you'll see exactly what it says, but it essentially talks about how far have we've come. 

Are we using all of these innovations all the time? No, in many ways, our email strategies are kind of the same.

April: It's been different when you look at what's happened with the web and mobile apps, or what we traditionally think as mobile apps. Here is the shiny thing that I want us all to keep in mind, and that is that email is the universal mobile app. We don't typically think about it that way, but it's preloaded on your smartphone, all you have to do is enter your credentials, and all of the nice emails come flowing through. We are actually app managers or app developers here, and we have a ton of users, so the adoption is there. Many app creators have a situation where they don't have enough people using their apps or engaging with their apps. We have 3.8 billion email users. Yeah, and almost 300 million emails are sent daily, which my company sends 40% of those. 

We don't have this issue where we don't have people in our app using our app; they are using our app, called email. The other thing that has plagued traditional mobile apps, not the email app, but conventional mobile apps, is that many of them are used only once, and then they're deleted off the device when the activity goes away. Someone will decide, \\\"I don't use this app anymore,\\\" and they delete it off their phone. No one's deleting their email app, people are checking email, and the app remains on the device. I wanted to kind of give that mind shift to all of us that we're more elevated than we think.

Jen: Does anyone remember when Gmail introduced tabs and email died? It was rapture. Yes, everyone was freaking out, but then Gmail introduced GridView. If you were around as an email marketer in 2014, you were probably interested in this and played around with it. I was. GridView was a way for our promotional emails, in that tab, to look very visual. It was exciting that Gmail was giving us some love because we are convinced that all of the email clients, all the ESPs hate our guts. This made us think, well, they're interested in us. However, GridView was kind of wonky, and it never came out of beta. It never looked this good. No one ever quite got it right, and it was not easy to adopt. Because of that, it died just as quickly as it was born. It died in 2015 and lasted less than a year. 

The following year, I wrote an article about it for MediaPost titled, \\\"Why GridView is Good For Us Even Though It's Dead,\\\" and I want to highlight some of the points I made there. First of all, it was evidence that Gmail cared about promotional messages. Gmail users care about our promotional messages, and that's why Google is caring about promotional messages; the connection has been made. Even though this has gone away, I thought something good will happen when it comes to Gmail and possibly other email clients, and we should be optimistic about that. What it is, I wasn't sure, but it was clear to me that Google has a sincere interest in delivering email users the most useful experience possible. Commercial messages are part of that, and Google takes their time figuring out what that is, and our years later, y'all, AMP is it. 

April: It's the micro apps, were micro app developers. It’s AMP.

Jen: It is. If you're unfamiliar with AMP for email, you want to know what it is? People tend to get it confused with AMP or accelerated mobile pages, and folks get it confused with AMPscript. Salesforce's Marketing Cloud AMPscript has absolutely nothing to do with AMP for email. That's just a proprietary coding language. It's irrelevant. AMP, accelerated mobile pages, was introduced in 2016, and it was a stripped-down HTML framework to help content load fast on mobile devices. AMP has expanded into a much larger framework that includes AMP for email, making things like this possible. It just launched last year, and this is an actual AMP message. What's going on here is it's a calculator. You click on what you want to finance, you pop in how much money you're looking to finance, and it gives you instant calculations based on that. This is cool, right? AMP for email brings engaging experiences to email, up to date information can be called at the moment of open, and you can interact and take action on those emails. By the way, this particular example that Google was lovely enough to share with us more than doubled the click rate on here. Engagement spikes when you have excellent use cases for AMP for email.

April: There are quite a few email clients that support AMP for email today. There is this idea that Gmail is hoarding the knowledge, and we don't trust them, but they've opened the conversation with their competitor. We have Mail.Ru, Outlook, which includes Live and Hotmail. There is also MSN (but it excludes the desktop client, although that will probably follow at some point) and then Yahoo and the domains that they have, which those are coming soon. Gmail has opened a dialog. They want to see standardization happen across the various environments because they want this to be used by everyone, not just at Gmail. I think that kind of hints to us that maybe we might want to trust them on this. 

Jen: This is revolutionary. These are direct competitors working with one another. We've never seen anything like that in our industry before. 

April: We also have quite a few email solutions that support AMP for email. I said I work for Sparkpost, and we send 40% of the world's email. We also have all these other providers thrown in there. We're halfway there to the volume of email happening daily is enabled via these solutions. Technology providers are starting to catch on that this is something that people want. They're starting to get this built into their platforms, and I know several others are in the works with it. I think Salesforce is considering it.

Jen: That's top-secret information you didn't hear it here.

April: We don't know anything.

Jen: Also, there's much concern that AMP is tough to do. It's another coding language, and that's true for very sophisticated use cases, but there are email building solutions with cool WYSIWYG that already exist with drag and drop AMP functionality. You can use Stripo right now to build AMP emails. BEE Editor, they're also going to have it very, very soon. I'm not familiar with Express Pigeon, but the good folks at Google say they've got it as well. Is anyone using Express Pigeon? 

Okay, you haven't heard of it either. It's not just me, but I'm going to check them out. 

Are you ready for some hella cool examples of AMP for email in action? **cheering**

I love this conference, I know.

April: They’re your people.

This is the one example that probably a lot of you have already experienced firsthand. Once upon a time, you created a Google Doc, and when somebody commented on it, you got an email, and the call to action would drive you back to Google Docs, and you could see the comment, or the comment with your name tagged, you would be driven back to Google Docs to look at it. Now, those comments are in-line right inside of Gmail, or any of those other solutions that support AMP for email, and you can reply. What's interesting is this decreased visits to the Docs application, but they considered it a good thing that wasn't a KPI for success in this context. As AMP applications become more widespread, your success metrics might change. Here's an example of AMP for Email Accordion, and I have to shout out to Eric Lepetit. I don't know if any of you know him, but his team developed this. What I love about this email is we try to say let's not make emails too heavy, let's not make people scroll too much, and they've built out this accordion feature whereas you're scrolling, you can tap to continue to load the images and expand this email as you go. Also, the word from the Google team is that this email performed very, very well. They had a high number of people that scrolled through the whole email, and they were able to tap the accordion buttons all the way down, so super high engagement. I think there were good sales from it too. 

Jen: This is one of those drag and drop functions that you can use right in one of those WYSIWYG editors right now. Also, important to note that this is a different MIME type. Currently, we send a text version and an HTML version, and this is the third one. Now there's three, and there's also the AMP version. The beauty of this is very different from an interactive email where you have to create that graceful degradation. It's challenging to do with AMP if there is no AMP support within the email client that's being used by your subscriber, it's going to fall back to HTML automatically. This is another one of those really easy WYSIWYG type functions; it's the carousel. We're all familiar with these; we see these on websites all the time, so it's an intuitive thing, people know that we can just click and we're going to see more images. Your HTML backup can be whatever you want it to be, either one of those images or all of those images, it's up to you. 

April: This is an example that many have probably seen, Seth Weisfeld at Pinterest. He created this email and basically what it does is it allows you to see your email, which was highly personal and dynamic by the way, and you can go into the email, and instead of having to go into Pinterest to add things to your pinboard there, you can do that right from the email. Seth and his team were early adopters of this, and we think this example still shines as a really good one. 

Then LendingTree, I love this one, and it would have been terrific when I was in financial services. It's a \\\"choose your adventure kind of thing.\\\" It's a quiz built right into the email where it's asking if you're trying to buy a home, or you're currently a homeowner, or you want to refinance. Then, based on how you answer the question, it might ask you more questions after that or give you a recommendation on screen. It's this kind of dynamic profiling that happens right within the email that's exciting. 

Jen: Order confirmation. People are always referring back to order confirmation emails, and we've been able to use solutions like movable ink and open-time personalization, where an image changes to give you an update on an order status, but this enables live text in real-time. So, at the moment of open, you can know the status of your order. 

April: Then, this is a great abandoned cart example where they're sending the follow-up, but then they have the product details right within the email. Being able to give your consumers an idea of the closer look and the more detailed views to help them decide to convert. Also, you can convert right within the email. Now, email is not a secure communication channel, and no, and they will not be entering credit card information into a form in the email. However, if they have their profile set up where it can submit back to the profile that's hosting the credit card behind a secure login, it's just very seamless, easy, one-click ordering that's enabled by this. This particular example increased sales by 30% for Ecwid, and Google told us that they had another partner that they worked with on a similar strategy that saw about an 80% lift in conversions, using this type of strategy. 

Jen: Could you imagine a single email changing your sales on that level? Superheroes!

April: Gangbuster.

Jen: All right, so we were brainstorming what else you could do with AMP, and these are some of the ideas that we came up with over the course of about two minutes. We don't have time to talk through all of them, but we're going to highlight a few. Firstly, unsubscribes and opt down. This is an idea that every single one of your brands can use. If you click on unsubscribe, and it says, \\\"Hey, we can unsubscribe you from everything, or maybe you just want these few categories.\\\" Then, there's a chance to retain them and give them control over their communication relationship with you. If that's happening right within the email client, there's a higher chance for you to retain, keep them on the list, and keep them happy with your brand. 

April: For those of you following GDPR and CCPA, if you have customers receiving transactional emails from you, but you don't have permission to mail them anything promotional, then put a sign up in your transactional messages. You can have a form right there within the email to collect their permission on the spot without them ever having to leave the inbox. 

Jen: Next, progressive profiling. Marketers complain all the time, \\\"I don't have the data I need for segmentation and personalization.\\\" It can be a part of your onboarding campaign, make it easy to figure out your basic criteria for simple segmentation. Let us know what products you're interested in, let us know who you are, your location, boom, boom, boom. All of that can happen right within the email client.

April: I'm a big fan of the idea of user-generated personalization. If you show a t-shirt within the email, maybe they want to see handbags, giving them the ability to kind of toggle and see different things would be really interesting, similar to the LendingTree example. Let them choose their own adventure. I think this would be so empowering to consumers. 

Jen: As you can tell, we're pretty amped for AMP y'all.

April: We’re stoked, so stoked.

Getting to the frothy layer of being a strategist, here's why I'm most excited about AMP. It's going to change the way we think about the email conversion funnel. This is a very simplified funnel, I get it, but every touchpoint within the funnel is an opportunity for your subscribers to either move forward or to fall out. AMP's idea is that clicks and conversions will combine, and they're going to flatten, causing this conversion funnel to collapse a bit. We're going to reduce that friction, and we're going to have a tighter conversion funnel that will, as the use cases that we shared showed, actually drive more engagement and conversion. I think this is probably the single biggest reason why I'm excited about AMP. That frictionless, getting them right to what they want to buy or do. 

Jen: So April, would you like to know the single reason that I'm most excited for AMP?

April: I'm so ready for this. 

Jen: Would you like to know?

Crowd: Yes

Jen: Movement toward email client standardization. Can I get an amen?

This is what drives us most crazy as email marketers. Our good friends at Email on Acid provided us with some fun screenshots of the pain that we all endure. There are approximately 1.6 bajillion different email clients out there; they all render differently. Standards exist for browsers, but they don't exist for email, and that's why we're using solutions like Email on Acid to see how they look. 

We're going through, \\\"oh, let's see how my creative looks, oh it looks good\\\" and \\\"this Gmail application for Android or iOS.\\\" Then, you see this. We have this crazy background image that popped out, it's all wonky, the width is wrong, and there is a broken image link.

April: So much, FML. 

Jen: Exactly. We have all experienced this, and it is maddening. This is what makes email hard. We are all big-time problem solvers, and it's complicated. Now, imagine it looked the same in every email client, and that's what's happening as those amp MIME types are becoming supported by email clients. It seems the same everywhere. It functions the same everywhere. Is it going to get harder before it gets easier? Yes, it will be, until we have that full adoption, which we're feeling confident might happen because of the amount of progress we've seen already in less than a year.

April: I wanted to inspire you on one last point. How many of you feel like the people in your company treat you like you're a button pusher, but you're very operational?

I saw my tweet got shared this morning about \\\"just send an email,\\\" and I'm like, oh no, you didn't. I've got a 21 step process to share with you that gets stuck in these approval processes along the way. Anyway, you get it.

So, no more button-pusher, enough already. We're now going to be leaders of strategy and experience. A lot of these capabilities, your counterparts on the marketing roster or the product team, will not know how to do this. They're not even going to know it exists. That opens it up for you to start to be the orchestrator of some great, frictionless customer experiences in ways that your counterparts cannot. 

Jen: AMP for email is \\\"the biggest thing happening to email, since the creation of email.\\\" Since our friend Gary spammed 400 of his nearest and dearest friends. 

April: It's like the bread is finally getting sliced. 

Jen: We have heard that some of you just are not as amped for AMP as we are. Does anyone want to call themselves out at this moment? All right, I see you. No judgment here. 

We're going to address a few of these concerns. We only have a few minutes left, so we can't go through this entire list. We are more than happy to chat with any of you one on one. I'm going to be writing about this in the future so look for those articles somewhere if anyone would like to publish them. 

Let's address a couple of these concerns. Firstly, added complication to already complicated codebases increases production time. That's true, so you have to choose your use cases wisely. However, if you're using an ESP with a very complicated code base (like Salesforce Marketing Cloud), ask yourself why it's so hard. New technology exists that is just as powerful, if not more powerful. That does not make it that hard, and it frees you up to do more cool shit. 

April: Another concern is that iOS doesn't support it, sadly, but I'm an Apple user. We don't know if this list of mail clients that will support it will expand beyond the ones that we showed earlier. However, I hope that as more marketers start to use it and more engagement, we'll see other providers begin to offer it. 

Jen: Yeah, Google says it's kind of the chicken or the egg situation. If some companies say, hey, we want to see more senders sending it out, and some are saying we want our users demanding it. I think they're going to get there. I mean they're Google, and they're driving this. They're very powerful, influential, and they're already making headway with Microsoft. Why wouldn't they make headway with Apple as well? I believe in them.

Here are some other concerns: if AMP is always updating, why would anyone continue to send email? It's kind of like a website inside of the email client. I learned that an AMP email is only good for 30 days, so we still have reasons to keep sending email out regularly. 

Also, I don't trust Google; we just had this conversation. I get it. I feel the pain. There's concern that there's a single company controlling this and taking ownership of something that will change our industry. That's scary, but the conversations I've had with them I find very heartening. The gentleman that I've been talking to expressed a sincere desire to collaborate with the email community with the other email clients, and we all have a shared goal, which is an excellent experience for our shared users and our subscribers. We have the same audience as them, so they want to come together and make that happen. Many people feel very suspicious about that.

I understand, but I would urge you to go to this idea with an open heart as they have. If you're interested in asking them questions, we're not super technical people, we know what we know, and we know what we don't know. These guys are the pros, and they are accessible to you. This is unparalleled. We've never had an email client say, we want to help you, we want to communicate with you, we want to address and alleviate your concerns, and we want you to tell us how to do it better. We can all be a part of this, and they are available to you to communicate with. 

So, what can you do right now? Well, we are out of time, but you are going to get these slides. We do want to quickly tell you that it doesn't matter what your job is.

April: It doesn't matter what your job is. You're now going to be in the UX business now due to some of these changes. It's happening. We want you all to be the early adopters, to share your cool use cases, and realize the benefits of it early on. 

Jen: We know that the folks who come to a conference like UNSPAM, you are the innovators in this space. If you want to be considering AMP for email, here are some questions you might want to ask yourself. We don't have time to talk through them, but you're going to get these slides, so if you're going to evaluate whether it's a good idea now in the short term or the long term, these are some starting points for that conversation with your internal leadership. This is all the documentation that you need to learn AMP. Even if you're not a super technical person, I urge you to try it out. If you know just enough about HTML and CSS to be dangerous, check it out. You can go and play on the AMP playground at amp.gmail.dev/playground and start building AMP emails right now. 

April: Stripo has a playground as well with some cool WYSIWYG tools that they just put on their open website. There are lots of fun places to go and explore.

Jen: One fun fact though, is if you want to send an AMP email, you need to get whitelisted by each of those email clients supporting it. You need to go back to the documentation for information on where to send those, and depending on how good your AMP is, it could be a speedy process, or it could take a few weeks. That's what we got to tell you about AMP for email, thanks for being awesome. 

We’re still riding the wave of speculation from Apple’s Privacy Protection announcement made two weeks ago. In the past week, we’ve come across more than a dozen articles citing how the update this fall to iOS 15 and macOS Monterey will either kill off email marketing as we know it, will be a benefit to customer loyalty, or land somewhere in the middle. That’s a wide range of opinions, so here’s what we know and some ideas of what you should do about it.

What is Apple’s Mail Privacy Protection?

Essentially, what Apple is doing is creating a feature that stops senders from gleaning information from those big brother tracking pixels that are inserted into their emails (either by choice or be default). In the words of Apple’s snappy PR team: “The new feature helps users prevent senders from knowing when [users] open an email, and masks their IP address so it can’t be linked to other online activity or used to determine their location.” This is done by automatically loading the content of the email once it is delivered to Apple Mail, which ultimately means that opens and IP address will be useless because it isn’t tied to the individual. But that also means that time stamps, forwarding, device identifiers, and even live content (like the cool countdown timers we use) will become useless too.

The Negative Nancy Perspective

Since we can remember, people have been saying that email is dead. For those who still believe that lie, the Apple Mail update is going to be the nail in the coffin because marketers will no longer know who opened the email. Their logic follows the line that everything is tied to opens, stating that if you don’t receive open information, then:

• Your reputation score will decrease and spam rates will increase (because you don’t know who is not opening)
• Your customer base won’t receive information based on things near them
• Your content that revolves around live content (eg. stock tickers) will be incorrect
• You can’t target the best time to send an email based on optimization algorithms
• You can’t use open-to-click rates as a key performance metric to determine the persuasiveness of the copy
• Some organizations that have relied heavily on open and location metrics will not see the value in continuing to email

There’s merit to what they say. We know that the data is very clear: to maintain great inbox placement, you must only send to the subscribers who will engage with you and stop sending to people who don’t. For newsletter-only publishers, who run 100% on read rates and not clicks (because all of their content is within the email), this will be very difficult for them to swallow. They are not accustomed to getting other actions out of their readers other than getting them to open it. This will be a shift in how their business outcomes are valued.

Even worse than those are spam traps. Spam traps are email addresses that don’t belong to real people but instead are used by inbox filters and blocklist providers to find senders who aren’t following best practices. Since the best way of finding a spam trap is by filtering out subscribers who consistently don’t open, keeping spam traps off your list will become very difficult.

The Cheery Charlie Perspective

Email is all about relationships, not open rates. Sure, open rates can tell you something about how effective your subject line copy skills are, but it doesn’t indicate how successful you are with connecting with your readers. Opens rates and list size are two metrics that are known as vanity metrics, and the new Apple Privacy Protection will force people and organizations to focus on:

• Deeper-impact metrics like click-to-convert, revenue per subscriber, or increased LTV
• Getting to know your subscribers better and use their profile data more
• Using actions as engagement metrics which are a better indicator of intent
• Finding new subscribers who act like engaged users rather than just getting anyone to sign up
• Actively unsubscribing people who are not adding any value to the email program
• Building a trustworthy channel so that emails stay in the inbox unlike organizations who don’t focus on the reader’s interests

When email creators focus on the myopic approach of opens, they miss the bigger picture and potential. When a sender optimizes for clicks, they need to continue to be valuable for the reader with every campaign. And that means that the emails that land in our inbox will continue to be ones that we want to engage with over time.

Ways to prep

You have until at least September (when the update is likely to hit devices) to make some moves. If you are only looking at open rates, then take this time to jump into your other data like the ball pits of your childhood. Here are some things to start doing now:

• Dust off your statistics skills and track important metrics. Keeping a log of how well you do on average will give you an indicator of how well you are doing compared to prior periods. What is good or bad compared to your median and standard deviations of those metrics? When you get some outliers in your data, what is your hypothesis regarding what moved the needle? You should also start tracking unsubscribes and spam complaints more closely as negative indicators, but also keep an eye on Lifetime Value or Return Visitors from Email Source.
• Optimize your re-engagement campaigns. Since we usually use an open as an indicator that someone is still interested, we will need to move past that metric to some other kind of action. This doesn’t mean that you should trash what you have been doing, but knowing that re-engagement will be more than an open will mean that you should be tying success to new copy, buttons, offers, lapsed time, etc. Now is the time to start testing to see what works, such as giveaways, mystery coupon codes, surveys, or profile preference updates.
• Use a control group. As we discussed at UNSPAM last year, you can siphon off an entire group of random people to see how effective your emails are by not sending to the control group at all. There’s a lot about how this works, which you can watch here. The gist is that you’ll see how important your emails really are by observing a subset of users who do not receive them at all. You may want to even segment your readers into most engaged (people who click 50% more than average readers) and average readers to see if you can influence the clicks from your average group more.
• Actively promote readers to update their profiles and preferences. The more data you have on an individual, especially what interests they have or how often they would like to receive your emails, the more likely it is that you’ll have an engaged reader. Use this data, such as birthdays, locations, company info, past purchase history, likes, and more to tailor your message that gets them to click. This also means that you may need to create a preference center.
• Encourage a click. We aren’t saying to game the system with empty promises or use link bait tactics, but there are other ways to get people to click more often. The best way is to make your email interesting and your copy compelling, but you can also try things like “share this unique code with friends” or “rate this email.” We envision that some senders will get creative and gamify the click process (much like they have for referrals) so that readers can keep track of points earned by clicking through or earn rewards for doing things to keep them in the “engaged” category.

We’re still riding the wave of speculation from Apple’s Privacy Protection announcement made two weeks ago. In the past week, we’ve come across more than a dozen articles citing how the update this fall to iOS 15 and macOS Monterey will either kill off email marketing as we know it, will be a benefit to customer loyalty, or land somewhere in the middle. That’s a wide range of opinions, so here’s what we know and some ideas of what you should do about it.

When summer\'s over, it\'s time to break out the flannel, the PSLs, and cinnamon brooms to spice up your marketing. Engage your audience year-round.\uD83C\uDF42

Pumpkin spice, mental inbox advice…these are the ingredients to make the perfect fall emails. We know you’ve at least considered combing through your closet to find those cozy oversized sweaters, finding your favorite flannel and boots, buying the best-smelling cinnamon brooms, and baking pumpkin spice everything with the folklore album playing on repeat.

You’ll find all of these elements sprinkled throughout fall emails where companies use the season to their marketing advantage to advertise products, a feature release, a scent, or a memory. These seasonal emails could be the invisible string tying you to your readers.

What to include in your fall emails

Fall is one of the busiest seasons during the year for sales and donations with Labor Day (U.S.), Oktoberfest, Halloween, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving, Black Friday, Small Business Saturday, and Cyber Monday. This is a great opportunity to reward your subscribers by including special offers, promotions, and quality content in your fall emails that lead back to your site, your blog, or your shop.

Share a snippet about your sale or updates and capture your readers\' attention with a playful subject line, fallen leaf emoji included (\\"Fall in love with our new pumpkin candles\\"). Create urgency by using custom preheader text, including your sale end time (\\"Hurry - offer ends tomorrow\\").

In the subject line, preheader text, and email body, you’ll also find mentions of…

• Fall freebies
• Fall fests
• Fall sales
• Fall faves
• Fall in love
• Falling for fall
• Gratitude
• Candy corn
• Apple cider
• Pie
• Turkey
• Gravy
• Stuffing
• Fireplace
• Leaves changing colors
• Cornucopia
• Nutmeg

Get inspired by these 12 fall emails!

1) Simple

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/smiles-davis-make-room-for-budgeting-this-thanksgiving

The Simple Life newsletter combines a unique mix of email elements. It includes a heartfelt note from an employee thanking customers, promotes a giveaway, shares a customer’s story, and highlights another customer’s journey as it pertains to one of the company’s hashtags.

While this email might only say “fall” with its hero image (and with the giant pumpkin further down in the email), the newsletter focuses on gratitude, a common theme in celebrating the holidays.

2) Hush Puppies

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/we-fall-boots

This isn\'t your typical fall email design. Hush Puppies gives a nod to the season with its large hero text and lets the rest of the email sell for itself. The email includes some solid product photos and clear CTAs, doing a nice job stacking the images on mobile and desktop to look great with HTML text.

3) AARP

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/smiles-davis-your-fall-guide-to-your-city-is-here

AARP goes all out with this fall email filled with a leaf wreath, “fall in love” verbiage, fun GIFs, resizing images on hover, and CTA buttons changing colors on hover. There are a lot of images in this email, but the autumn colors and leaves sprinkled throughout the email make it stand out as a top fall email.

4) Chobani

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/the-most-delicious-fall-recipe-inside

Wondering how to make glazed pumpkin scones to celebrate fall (or to simply satisfy your pumpkin cravings)? Chobani’s got you covered. This fall email locks in a short and sweet message with a simple CTA and fun food photography showing off the crumbly baked scone goodness.

5) Fracture

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/happy-thanksgiving-from-the-fracture-team

Fracture is all about holiday gratitude in this mashup of a Thanksgiving / fall / thank-you email with people clinking glasses and celebrating at a table decorated with orange napkins and placemats (because, fall).

6) Outdoorsy

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/the-most-colorful-fall-road-trips-near-you

According to Outdoorsy, as soon as summer ends, fall brings in new colors, new roads, and new opportunities to explore while traveling. The beautiful autumn leaves on an empty road in this email paint a beautiful picture of what’s next. Outdoorsy keeps the fall vibes strong with a fall festival bucket list (though, these festivals would most likely be virtual now), and beautiful sunsets.

7) Postmates

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/smores-to-your-door

3 ingredients, a skewer, and a campfire. Postmates offers its audience a delightful s’mores freebie, all customers have to do is pay for delivery. This is a great incentive for customers to order through the local delivery service.

If customers are going to order a free s’mores kit and pay for delivery, this could inspire them to throw in some meals and other treats in their cart to make the most of that delivery fee. Throughout the email, Postmates includes a fun mix of illustrations and a recipe with clear CTAs at the end of the email.

8) Uber

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/flying-to-the-feast

Who doesn’t love a dancing email? Uber pairs a fun, fall-themed GIF with a well-seasoned pun: ”That’s gravy.” This fall email is playful, to the point, and stays true to its Thanksgiving advertising right down to the pumpkin orange “How It Works” button.

9) Lyft

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/on-demand-airport-rides-from-lyft

Lyft’s fall email is more than just colored leaves and a turkey car surrounded by veggies. The company incorporates its hot pink branding in the leaves and the CTA, keeping its branding consistent throughout the email. Lyft keeps the fun going with its blocks featuring Thanksgiving-themed cars, from a cornucopia to corn on the cob.

10) Trunk Club

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/feels-like-fall

Trunk Club places its audience right in the middle of the autumn air through storytelling, complete with a bonfire, crisp breeze, and an outfit fit for fall. The company may have deployed an A/B campaign with the same image, different verbiage. Also, notice how one email mentions “fall” and the other mentions “autumn.”

11) Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works knows how to sell their scents in every season. Winter? Vanilla Bean Noel. Spring? Blueberry Pie. Summer? Sun-Washed Citrus. And, of course, fall? Pumpkin Pecan Waffles welcome in the season.

Although Bath & Body Works designs image-only emails, their product photography is always on-brand, smart, relatable, and aware of the season for its customers so they can picture the BBW products in their home. This fall email’s GIF, orange colors, season sweets, and autumn leaf wallflower product all keep the company top of mind in fall promotions.

12) Michaels

Michaels shows off pretty fall florals, craft pumpkins, and wreaths in its emails. The “Make It” buttons, although image-only, empowers readers by showing them how to create their own sequin pumpkins and more.

While Michaels is another company that creates image-only emails, we can appreciate and draw inspiration from their lifestyle photos and product staging to create our own stylish yet accessible fall emails.

Really Good Fall Email Collections

Check out these fall email collections from RGE users:

Maria’s fall email collection showcases designs from Headspace, DogVacay, and Leesa:

https://reallygoodemails.com/mpalamar/collections/1D1OLkr8zZVPpbU0PqAp

Matthew’s Thanksgiving email collection highlights products and sales emails from companies like Baggu, BaubleBar, and Casper:

https://reallygoodemails.com/popcornguy/collections/gn2WkbvLjxtowO7U7mH9

Here’s a look at some of my favorite fall emails, including emails from this article:

https://reallygoodemails.com/kellylamano/collections/cxc7fCWaoJ58GJizFqOz

Engage Your Audience Year-round

Whether you’re writing a personal newsletter or advertising your brand’s products in a fall-themed email, it’s important to test your email designs to learn what works best for your audience. Keep the conversation going year-round in your emails, through social media, and on your website so your audience will come to love and expect your seasonal emails aligning with your branding.  

Did we miss one of your fall favorites? Send us your fall email by clicking the “Upload an Email” button in the top right corner of your screen.

81% of B2B marketers say email newsletters are one of their preferred formats of content marketing. B2B emails give people the opportunity to help solve a problem, to provide updates, or some other form of value.

Our CEO Matthew Smith mentioned, “From a business perspective, I think that B2B emails need to be looking at common business problems and solving those on a point-by-point basis You really need to know your business customer in order to do that well.”

B2B emails should also be concise. Businesses don’t need to reinvent the wheel; they can simplify the process for other businesses.

“The BEST B2B emails are segmented, smart and simple,” Michelle Grupinski, Senior Marketing Automation Specialist, Demand Gen at LogMeIn shared. “Their content tells the story of a solution to a problem that the reader is most likely to be experiencing. A strong B2B email delivers the most relevant content, at the most ideal time, to the most engaged audience.”

Dive in to our top 15 picks for B2B emails

1) Squarespace

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/you-can-do-this/

Squarespace reassures business owners that they’re on the right track in building their website and they shouldn’t overthink the process! Squarespace encourages its audience by providing resources, such as guides and tutorials, to power through and go live with their website.

Why it’s really good

• Clear CTAs
• Encouraging copy
• Links to tutorials
• Showcases website on mobile device

2) LogMeIn

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/prepare-for-the-unexpected-with-lastpass/

LogMeIn, the developer behind LastPass, GoToMeeting, Bold 360, and GoToConnect, knows how to connect businesses with web solutions. In this B2B email, LogMeIn explains the importance of keeping information secure and how LastPass can help in 5 quick steps.

“B2B emails should tell a simple story: we know our product; you know your business’s needs – our email nurtures and will guide you to where the two align,” Michelle said.

Why it’s really good

• Fun design
• Informative
• Clear CTA
• On-brand
• Provides helpful information

3) GoDaddy

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/its-national-small-business-week-and-were-celebrating-you/

Entrepreneurs bust their asses trying to make their dreams real. And it’s all too often a very lonely endeavor. Using emotional copy, we celebrated the spirit of our customers, validated their hard work, and inspired them with no attempt to sell them any product.

In this email, GoDaddy celebrates National Small Business Week by putting the focus on the people it serves. This email gets right to the point, and keeps readers engaged by addressing them throughout the email (“You’re the champion…We got ya.”).

The CTAs to inspirational business owners at the bottom help encourage the reader to engage with other business’s stories while staying on GoDaddy’s site.

Why it’s really good

• Encouraging copy
• Addressing audience in second person
•  Links to inspiring business owners
• On-brand

4) Divvy

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/april-update-well-get-through-this-together/

Divvy gets this B2B email right with its inclusive language (“We’ll get through this – together) and walking its audience through solutions. They understand the problems businesses are facing and share a variety of resources to download, read, or listen to.

Why it’s really good

• Understanding tone
• Provides resources
• Easy to skim
• Clear CTAs
• On-brand

5) Slack

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/youre-invited-frontiers-by-slack-our-best-and-first-ever-conference/

Originally published on Kuratedemail.co (https://www.kuratedemail.co/?ref=reallygoodemails)

View the Live Email
\\n Edit on CodePen

Slack introduces its first conference, Frontiers, welcoming teams to learn and share best practices. This email incorporates Slack’s brand colors throughout, plus, fun shapes framing speaker headshots and social media icons.

Slack shares a helpful at-a-glance look at the event, explaining the value of businesses attending the conference.

Why it’s really good

• Great design
• Clear CTA
• On-brand
• Provides an “at-a-glance” look at the event
• Cross-promotes company and event

6) Mintel

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/webinar-discover-the-2030-global-beauty-personal-care-trends/

It\'s bold and compelling, which, is consistent with the ambitions of the brand going forward, utilizes (a few) email marketing best practices and is accessible across most environments.

Mintel works with a whopping 5,000+ businesses worldwide in market intelligence. This email gives businesses just enough information to pique their interest in upcoming trends and demonstrate the value of this webinar. Mintel keeps the email short and sweet, putting the focus on the graphic designs and two straightforward CTAs.

Why it’s really good

• Bold and interesting design
• On-brand
• Clear CTAs
• Concise

7) Moo

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/free-what-free-shipping/

My favorite email from today because of the term “All the things”

View the Live Email
\\n Edit on CodePen

Moo keeps this offer email nice and short with one paragraph and an offer code. The company also incorporates a fun GIF that highlights business products and the free shipping promo.

Why it’s really good

• GIF usage
• Showcases product and promo offer
• Clear CTA
• Creates urgency
• Short and sweet

8) BrightWave

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/our-on-demand-webinar-shines-a-light-on-dark-mode/

BrightWave shows businesses the value of dark mode with an email and a mobile email within an email, both in dark mode. The company keeps the copy brief and encourages the audience to learn more about the value of dark mode with an on-demand webinar.

Why it’s really good

• Dark mode
• Promotes design trends
• Showcases two emails in dark mode
• Clear CTA

9) emfluence

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/remember-adding-this-to-your-cart-smiles-davis/

“Think about how you make digital marketing an experience,” Natalie Jackson, Marketing Director of emfluence, said in this Feedback Friday episode. “One of the things you always look at is, how do you make B2B not be boring?”

Digital marketing agency emfluence created this email within an email to show businesses how to integrate an ecommerce solution and strategy with an automation software.

This B2B email is a fun way to walk businesses through what Natalie calls “the anatomy of an ecommerce abandoned cart email campaign. The purpose of it was to be educational, but also to be experiential.”

Natalie mentioned, “A really good B2B email is personalized, timely, interactive, and transparent! Relationships are built on trust, and our B2B emails are no different—if the content you’re sending is truly intended to help your target audience receive the information they need to do their jobs better, they’ll come around when they’re ready.”

Why it’s really good

• GIF usage
• Engaging copy
• Anatomy of an email
• Clear CTAs
• Provides the option to download the email template

10) World Nomads

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/december-partner-news/

I appreciate that a B2B travel insurance company gave some thought about their design. My name at the top pulls me in, with a big image that sets the tone. The little boxes below are interesting little blurbs to grab my attention if I don’t care about the hero story.

View the Live Email
\\n Edit on CodePen

World Nomads keeps the opening of this email short and sweet with simple CTAs and a helpful update on an improved user experience. The four, small squares provide information and links to company resources, as well as highlight the company’s brand colors.

Why it’s really good

• Tells a story
• Blocks create an interesting layout
• Clear CTAs
• On-brand
• Social media (acknowledging the icons + inviting the reader to join)

11) Asana

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/you-created-a-team-now-set-them-up-for-success/

Asana’s email walks businesses through how to bring their team up-to-speed on the project management tool, and how to set them up for success. The company lists key steps to make this happen, leading to a CTA.

Why it’s really good

• Informative
• Clear CTA
• Breaks down the software
• Provides option for education

12) Greetabl

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/have-you-found-the-perfect-client-gift/

View the Live Email
\\n Edit on CodePen

This email combines ecommerce with B2B messaging, reminding businesses it’s time to send appreciation gifts. The GIF provides a fun visual, showcasing order options and how easy it is to personalize products.

Why it’s really good

• GIF usage
• On-brand
• Highlights different products
• Clear CTAs

13) Flywheel

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/get-3-months-of-free-wordpress-hosting/

Great images, with large text and clear cutover areas that support your decision to use their services. Would’ve been cool to use my name, instead of a generic “Hey Adam” – I am sure that they have my first name when I signed up.

View the Live Email
\\n Edit on CodePen

Flywheel brings the fun of summer things to this B2B email. The company highlights the value of its platform with the “Here’s what makes Flywheel different” section and sprinkles clear CTAs throughout the email.

Why it’s really good

• Bright design
• Discount code
• Clear CTAs
• Explains the product
• Fun images
• On-brand

14) Mailchimp

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/managing-2-businesses-with-2-different-audiences/

Great B2B emails tell stories, like this one! Mailchimp immerses readers in the story of how one business owner manages multiple businesses and multiple audiences. The email goes in-depth with quotes from the business owner, images, video, and other elements to tell the full story.

Storytelling is an organic way of promoting a product or service, helping businesses explain, “This is why we’re awesome! This is how we can help.”

Why it’s really good

• Engaging photos
• Video link
• Tells a story
• Testimonials
• Connects business owners to the product

15) Google

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/dont-forget-to-update-your-holiday-hours-this-year-it-takes-2-minutes/

View the Live Email
\\n Edit on CodePen

Google’s nudge to update Google My Business profiles helps keep the company top of mind. The GIF showcases a “before and after” of business hours listed to quickly show readers the value of updating the hours in their profile.

Why it’s really good

• GIF usage
• Clear CTAs
• Before and after view
• Helpful information

Check out these B2B email collections!

Isabella\'s B2B Collection showcases a mix of ecommerce, events, and food, featuring emails from companies like Shopify, Litmus, and Made in Cookware.

https://reallygoodemails.com/tallulah/collections/yt3YI9XxSUTXdBuDrqTN/

Michelle\'s B2B Email Collection highlights great designs from Sprout Social, Zapier, Squarespace, and more!

https://reallygoodemails.com/walderstudio/collections/mpw9DBG4JVn3NB2V1y3j/

Tallulah’s B2B Collection includes a mix of research, tech, and software emails from companies like Slack, Asana, and Salesforce.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emailbells97/collections/k4EdbvkXoswT2AtVpSSg/

You’ll find the top 15 B2B emails listed above and more in my B2B Email Collection! I...really liked this category of emails.

https://reallygoodemails.com/kellylamano/collections/8IvMZimiFn9exrlDBIMn/

You can check out more B2B email collections here, and create your own filled with YOUR favorite B2B emails.

Mirror what you hear in B2B emails

Unsure of what your audience needs right now?

“Ask them. That shows intention. You’re engaging,” Matthew said. “If you’re going to say that your brand is kind and thoughtful and engaging, then act it in your language, in your design, in your responsiveness, in your speed of how often you send emails.”

Be consistent in your communications and follow through with your promises.

B2B emails build relationships. Make ‘em count!

B2B digital ad spend is expected to increase by a total of 22.6% by the end of this year compared to 2019’s ad spend. That would be a total B2B digital ad spend of a whopping $8.14 billion.

“I don’t believe that email is marketing. I believe that email is relationship delivered,” Matthew said. “There’s an opportunity for you to be in a relationship with your customers and change the entire framework of how you think and feel and relate to and earn the business and loyalty and trust of your customers.”

Make your B2B emails count as you build trust with your audience and nurture relationships with existing audiences.

“Email is a relationship tool, and that’s no different with B2B emails,” Natalie shared. “The purpose for a B2B email should lean first into ‘What can I do to help my buyer at this exact moment?’ This is true whether you’re building a lead nurture, an event invitation series, a customer onboarding series, or an upsell campaign—at every point in the customer journey, the purpose of a B2B email is to deliver relevant, timely, useful guidance to your target audience.

Know of an awesome B2B email that demonstrates relationships delivered? Send us your B2B email!

B2B revolves around knowing businesses and their needs. Guide business owners through your solution with helpful and informative B2B emails. \uD83E\uDD1D

As we embark on our 11th year, we\'re starting a new adventure. It\'s basically a Scully-meets-Mulder X-Files episode — where we fully expect to resolve all mysteries with a kick-ass partner. If you haven\'t heard the news, Really Good Emails was acquired and will join our incredible friends at Beefree to make email better.

Big news is brewing and it’s got us wondering: Why haven’t the powers that control zodiac signs considered “the almighty email” as an option? We think 2024 is a premier candidate for that sign. Why you ask? Well, we\'re jazzed (and a bit emotional) to share that Really Good Emails is joining the folks at Beefree. It’s a Batman and Robin story, or maybe Thelma & Louise, or maybe Scully & Molder?! It was always meant to be of course! Each better with the other.

Since we scooped up the first email from our inboxes back in 2014 and plopped it into our uniquely and creatively named domain, we’ve built the largest curated collection of emails on the planet. Possibly the universe. (Can you contest that?) Fueled by nothing but love for the craft and an insatiable curiosity about what makes an email truly click, we’re now partnering with Beefree\'s level of wizardry in no-code email creation tools. Finally, it’s time to kick things up a notch (or ten).

Imagine this: our epic library of over 15,000 emails - not just for ogling, but as a springboard for your own creations, with Beefree\'s tools turning inspiration into reality at the speed you can say \\"abracadabra\\". It\'s about making the beautiful, functional; the dream, tangible. We have so many ideas that we can’t wait to pounce on, especially now that we can use someone else’s bank account and employee base to do it for us. (For example, gone are the days that we made up our own terms of service because we couldn’t afford a lawyer.)

From the RGE team, Mike Nelson is stepping up as \\"Key Owner\\" of RGE and Head of Growth at Beefree, ready to steer this acquisition like one of the getaway drivers in The Italian Job. Matt Helbig will be weaving his magic as a new member of the Beefree marketing team that looks after the combined platform. As for Matthew Smith and Matt Cook, they’ll continue on their personal work journeys but will continue to bring the thunder as “Strategic Advisors.”

We wouldn’t be here for all the people who cheered us on along the way. From getting a sponsor before we even launched RGE, to our family members who lovingly questioned why we worked on this thing for over a decade, to the millions of email makers around the world who have come to ReallyGoodEmails.com, you’ve made our “what if” ideas come to life.

A big shout out to Sean, Chin, Krista, David, Tina, and Will who have been with us along this journey and helped us make RGE better through their contributions. And to Massimo, Beefree’s CEO, who believed in this idea the moment we talked about it.

So, here\'s to new beginnings, to the power of creation, and to a future where every email is not just good, but really good.

Cheers to what\'s next,

Team RGE

P.S. There are probably some questions you may have about this whole thing. Here are some answers to what we anticipate people asking:

Q: What’s going to happen to the RGE’s Unspam events?

Luckily, Beefree likes to party as much as we do. They are committed to making the event even more accessible to people by keeping ticket prices low, having them in other parts of the world, and keeping them in our unconventional style that focuses on the email community members.

Q: Is Beefree going to be mean overlords that start charging for RGE?

Beefree is actually removing our paywall for Pro features. That means that you no longer need to pay for Pro and are now uncapped in the number of collections you want to create, comment on emails with others, and upload stuff from your inbox. Everything else is already free. Go have fun with your newly unlocked powers!

Q: Is Beefree going to swallow up RGE’s site? What changes are happening?

RGE will operate as its own quirky brand and continue to be a standalone site and newsletter. We are working on integrations so that you can go from inspiration to creation seamlessly between the two platforms. The hope is that you can use RGE stuff on Beefree and Beefree stuff on RGE when it makes sense. We’re really excited about having a dev team at our disposal to build out a better recommendation engine and bring you better-suited ideas for your next campaign. And for Beefree users and SDK clients, we look forward to more submissions to RGE to fill out categories that we’re light on.

Q: Does this mean RGE will now be SOC 2 and ISO compliant?

Well, look at you knowing your acronyms! Beefree works with a bunch of enterprise companies already and is compliant with the highest standards of cyber and privacy protection. Not that RGE didn’t have any protection, but we definitely didn’t have the level that some stringent organizations required. Beefree will take over the controllership of all data collected and processed so far by RGE, which means that your personal data will be kept in a highly secretive vault guarded by cyborg squirrels or something like that. They are also GDPR compliant if you care about that too. So… back to your original question: as a Beefree initiative, RGE will now be SOC 2 and ISO-27001 compliant.

Q: You’ve been running RGE for 10 years. Why now?

Honestly, we would’ve loved to do this earlier. RGE has been a volunteer side project for us this whole time, eating into family vacations, precious sleep schedules, and our personal bank accounts. We never imagined that RGE would bring in millions of email creators to find inspiration, that we’d host events on different continents, or that we’d have our own custom-built software that pulled emails directly from an inbox into the site. As you can imagine, it’s become too big for just 4 guys to manage on our off-hours.

Beefree can offer RGE users the stuff we couldn’t: faster development, more resources, and international perspectives. Why didn\'t they or others buy us earlier? Not sure about that one. But we’re glad that Massimo and the Beefree team saw the opportunity and jumped on it.

Building a successful email strategy isn’t just selling things—you have the power to transform how clients experience your brand.

Email campaigns are an exercise in relationship building. When done right, a well-mapped email program can bring in more sales and help you transform your existing client base into a community. But building a successful email strategy isn’t just selling things—by applying analytics to your customer journey, you can gather valuable intelligence about your prospect and customer base that can help you transform how clients experience your brand.

In this class, we’ll talk about how to build targeted email campaigns for every step of the customer journey, with hands-on tips for deciding who to nurture, when to nurture them, what to say in your messaging, and how to measure email success.

You’ll learn how to:

\xb7 Map your email strategy to your customer journey

\xb7 Grow beyond sales-oriented emails and into relationship nurtures

\xb7 Use CRM data to determine who should receive which emails and when

Who should come?

Email marketers, data-driven marketers, client success teams

Who should maybe skip this one?

Designers, coders

Natalie Jackson is the Marketing Director for the emfluence Marketing Platform and for emfluence\'s Digital Marketing. She has nearly a decade of experience in B2B marketing and in digital marketing, including more than eight years of geeking out over all things email and marketing automation strategy. Natalie has spoken on email marketing, CRM strategy, and content marketing for storytellers at Digital Summit Kansas City and Digital Summit At Home, Microsoft Dynamics CRMUG Summit, emfluence’s And Then Some Conference, and for countless local marketing organizations.

*All classes are recorded and will be sent out to all registrants for those that can\'t attend live and/or want to rewatch over and over again (who wouldn\'t?!)

**By joining us for this class, you’ll also get free newsletters from Really Good Emails and Emfluence (if you aren\'t already). You can unsubscribe from either or both at any time.

Want to know what we thought of 2019\'s Black Friday emails? Well, here you go.

When I was a kid, my mom would grab the Thanksgiving newspaper ads and scour through all the deals like she was studying the map of a buried treasure. The next morning she would wake us wildly before the crack of dawn, shove us into the car, and have us recite the plan of attack as we drove to the store. In those days, if you wanted deals, you physically had to get up. There were no Thursday openings. There were no shop in your pajamas and ship to your house options. Everything was Friday morning. And there were no better deals than Black Friday.

Fast forward to today; we can all agree that we don’t miss the annoyance and violence of that time period. It seems pretty crazy to look back and think we risked our lives over Cabbage Patch Kids or whatever was the hot product of the year. That’s originally why Black Friday was called “Black Friday” - not for the companies going from “the red to the black” but because of the traffic jams, assault, and crowdedness that came when Thanksgiving had ended and holiday shopping had started. It wasn’t until the 1980s for the term “Black Friday” to take on a positive connotation.

Despite the sales happening earlier or going on longer, Black Friday is definitely still the anchor. Over Black Friday weekend, Salesforce reported over $31 billion in online sales which was another record year for the shopping holiday (still nothing compared to the $38 billion generated in China for Singles Day). On the other hand, it is one of the hardest times to get your email opened due to the sheer volume hitting the inbox at that time.

Data from MailCharts shows that sending volume was up nearly 19% compared to last year - going from around 6 emails per week per organization at the beginning of the month all the way up to 9 emails per week during Black Friday. (If you are good at arithmetic, you probably noticed that means multiple sends per day - which doesn\'t look like it is going down

for those who had hoped to see brands send less.)

Surprisingly, the unique number of senders that hit RGE\'s inbox (we\'ve gone and signed up to thousands of random sites to see their emails in action) decreased 13% compared to 2018, so it shows that organizations have been paying more attention to keeping their list healthy and free from non-engaged users.

But enough on the background of all this and let\'s get to the good stuff. We sure love seeing all the creativity when it comes to Black Friday emails; here are some things we noticed this year in particular:

Dark Mode

It is no surprise that Black Friday seems very “black.” We saw a lot of emails this year altering their typical white background for something darker to stay on theme - even more than they did last year.

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/ZFIxy9LWkl0wkNAAGrF7/

Product Focused, Not Deal Focused

You would expect with all the lead up in this article about Black Friday deals that these emails would be about deals. But a lot more brands decided to go for a non-deal email this year and focus on the product instead.

Beige Mode

Okay. So “beige mode” isn’t a saying, but we saw a lot more brands going for a natural earthy look this year.. if they weren\'t going Dark Mode or sticking to their brand colors.

https://reallygoodemails.com/mike/collections/OweQMEYvnYd9KpxZJ7SX/

New Product Launch

It’s Black Friday. Your audience is primed to shop. Everyone is screaming “special deal” and “save!” The game’s on the line—what do you do? Swish. Introduce a new product that your best customers are sure to want and love.

Anti-consumerist Sentiment

There’s nothing better to launch a good press moment than to brand yourself as not giving an eff about how much money you make on Black Friday.

Not interactive

With all the hype about AMP for email or the increase in more complex emails with interactive elements (think simple quizzes, buttons, etc) we had expected to see emails that got us engaging without sending us automatically to a site. That wasn\'t the case, unfortunately.

If you are curious, this Nest email from last year is a prime example of going the extra mile to build the cart functionality within the email.

Lack of Illustration

One of the biggest trends we have been tracking for more than a year has been the use of custom illustrations in email. That\'s why it surprised us to not see the trend continue with Black Friday. Sure, we saw some, but those were typically within the brand\'s design system guidelines - not a unique or commissioned artwork just for the special day.

If you want to keep an eye on illustrations, though, this collection should keep you happy:

https://reallygoodemails.com/TeamRGE/collections/Kbj1vKeltUde9mWKaHNk/

Did we catch all the trends this year? Definitely not, but these are the ones that stood out to us. And by the time Black Friday 2020 rolls around, this will probably all be forgotten anyways and replaced with some trends we are projecting, such as brighter color choices, comic-style layouts, and nostalgic-era themes. We\'ll just have to wait another year to find out.

Cloud-based software company Braze invited Matthew and Mike for an Ask Me Anything. We gathered \'round the Braze Bonfire with curious geeks to talk shop. \uD83D\uDCAC

Check out the full Slack AMA below featuring insights on really good B2C brands, retargeting your audience, if AMP is something that\'s worth adopting, and best practices to give your audience the best email experience. (Mike even breaks out some of his Korean.)

Meet the Crew

Maddie Bertschmann: Braze Bonfire Community Admin

Matthew Smith (@Whale): CEO at Really Good Emails. CEO at Fathom & Draft. Loves to hustle and have fun.

Mike Nelson (@Mike): RGE co-founder. Speaker. Lame marketing guy. If you found a typo on the site, it was probably his fault.

Full RGE x Braze Slack AMA

Maddie Bertschmann: Alrighty, let\'s get started! @channel

@Whale, want to kick us off with a quick intro?

Matthew: Hey everyone, I’m @Whale on Twitter, Dribbble, Facebook (who cares),

Instagram.com/whale, and some other spots. I started Really Good Emails about six years

ago. I was on a mission to show the world that better emails do exist. Since then, we’ve seen 

over 1.5 million visitors, and we’ve become the center of the email universe where this 

fantastic community comes to play. We LOVE our email geeks. I’m a dad of 3, and have a fantastic GF who’s moving in this Saturday! I’m from Colorado, but I live in South Carolina 

and will travel again as soon as COVID has a curtain. Super excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

Maggie Wessell: How long is too long when it comes to an email?

Matthew: Great question. It depends on the audience. Is your audience there to read your in-depth report, or are they in the zone for something more transactional? How long is too long of a conversation with your friend? How about someone you just met? When you think relationally about these questions, the answers become clear.

Sujeong Yu: I want to know how to see the long-term performance of email. As we are a car-sharing service, the usage cycle is long, so most customers don’t immediately use our service after receiving an email. It doesn\'t mean a lot to look at the open rate and click rate for each case. I\'m curious about examples of how other brands that have long-term usage cycle do it.

Matthew: I’ll be candid here and say I don’t have as much experience on this one as @Mike Nelson - RGE, who can jump in here later and answer with more fidelity.

What I can say is that the more you get to know your customers, the more you understand how to relate to them during onboarding. Knowing how other brands do this is helpful but not as powerful as actually learning from your customers.

Mike: Great question! The important part of your email program should be focused on giving the reader some value. For your example, Uber has been reminding users why people use their service and the outcomes they have when they arrive. Their latest campaign was about the importance of seeing loved ones. At other times, they remind their users of actions they are taking to be safe, diverse, and helpful. Email is a great way to keep your brand in the consideration set to be top of mind when they want to engage in that activity again. The better you can predict their usage patterns, the better you can be at targeting them with messaging at the right time.

Jheri Malm: What are the future trends that you see coming in 5 years?

Matthew: I am so excited about a “logged in” state in email. One-click buying and deeper personalization. To get there, we need to see Outlook shift their practices to have a modern web framework inside email tools.

I also see personalization and segmentation getting a lot smarter, so emails are more specific and more targeted to be valuable to customers.

Lastly, we’ll see design get better as design systems become more integrated into our thinking in the industry.

Ross Cato: What are your top 5 or so A/B tests that you would run if you\'re hoping to increase your CTO rates?

Matthew: That’s a best question for @Mike Nelson - RGE, who can answer here later, but I’d say you’ll know your best A/B tests when you are clearer on your customers.

Try showing them unique personalized product offerings.

Try showing them default product offerings.

Mike: First question - what is CTO rate serving on the business? Is there a better metric that you could look at on email performance that helps the bottom line, extends LTV, or drives other behaviors you are looking for? I’d create tests that get to those underlying issues. Optimizing just for clicks can be done, but it doesn’t mean it gives you the desired outcome. But, if you already know all that stuff, here are some things:

• CTA & copy. Are you using hard call-to-actions or soft-call-actions? Are you compelling with your words?
• Length. Are you keeping the email focused or trying too many things at once to see what sticks?
• Segmentation. Are you shotgunning the email or getting personalized with the options?

Matt Pogor: In your opinion, what makes a good subject line?

Matthew: With subject lines, I’d suggest using curiosity or value to drive people through to the core of the email.

The “job” of the subject line is to help the user know if the email could potentially be interesting or valuable to them.

Ask questions or tell specifically what’s inside.

Marianne Flageole: Except for changing the subject, what would you recommend switching to increase open rates?

We send emails to a group of more than 40,000 recipients and have 10% open rates, but when an email is opened, it is automatically clicked…

Matthew: Get to know your customers. Write to them. Ask them why they aren’t opening. Interview them. A lack of opening is a lost product-market fit.

Priyanka: Love the RGE newsletters. Do you have any tips for improving Open Rates? Especially regarding subject line & pre-header?

Matthew:

1. Hire a copywriter.
2. Find your voice & tone and define it.
3. Lead with curiosity and ask a question.
4. Get people the value they want to know is inside.

Jacob Bonta: How do you persuade upper management that less is more when it comes to emails? The same way you answered @Maggie Wessell’s question? Because I feel like they aren’t necessarily asking for an answer like that sometimes...

Matthew: I’d suggest trying one design that’s low hanging fruit. See if you can refine the design 

down using better UX/Typography, etc., and then show results both quant and qual.

David Mroczek: Do you think AMP for email will pick up in adoption?

Matthew: I think AMP has the right ideas, but it’s proprietary, so I believe they are going about it the wrong way. IMO, I’d like to see Google push to make AMP a more open-source tech and use its power to motivate Outlook to change so we can all see a new future of email clients developed more like modern browsers with logged-in states. That’s my dream.

Morgan Stone: Not a question, but I\'d like to see a category on RGE for AMP for Email, especially since Braze supports AMP. I\'d like to see what other brands are doing.

Matthew: Noted. It seems like a good one to add. Thanks for thinking of that. Will you start submitting AMP emails you find?

Blaine Hostetler: What are your thoughts on AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) for email? Do you feel like it is a make or break shift in technology that should be more sought after by brands, and how many emails does RGE see currently using AMP?

Matthew: *references previous AMP answer* I think AMP has the right ideas, but it’s proprietary, so I think they’re going about it the wrong way. IMO, I’d like to see Google push to make AMP a more open-source tech and use their power to motivate Outlook to change so we can all see a new future of email clients developed more like modern browsers logged-in states. That’s my dream.

There are some thoughts, but we don’t see a ton in Really Good Emails that meet our design standards, but we’re on the lookout. Please submit new ones and make sure to note that it’s using AMP. It sounds like we should start curating more of these.

Yvonne Ly: Do you have tips for retargeting those who have opened emailed campaigns but have not engaged?

Matthew: If you were in a relationship and someone showed some interest but didn’t engage, you might start by asking them a question.

How can you ask them a question in email?

1. Hey Matthew, we noticed you saw our last email, didn’t unsubscribe but also didn’t buy our thing. That’s cool by us, but we’d also like to learn more about what you want so we don’t waste your time and give you better results. Take our survey….
2. Or you can just segment those users, then send them an email asking for an interview for a $30 amazon gift. Find out what’s not working for them. The answer will show you what to do.

Nikki Collins: Tips/Ideas for getting out of a person\'s \\"promotions\\" folder and into their inbox? Is the key in the subject line, from name, content/code of email, etc.?

Matthew: I don’t have data on this, but @Mike Nelson - RGE probably has some ideas.

From a content perspective, you just want to figure out how to be more valuable to your customers. Find out what sucks in their lives and why they are using your service/product and see if you can deliver that to them in a more meaningful way.

Mike: Engagement is the most significant factor. From the time that they sign-up, give them a reason to click or reply. The more people who do this regularly, the better chance you have of staying in the inbox.

Also, to point out, being in the “promotions” folder is designed for marketing messages. It doesn’t mean that it is a bad thing. Chad White (was at Litmus, now at Oracle as head of research) told us that when an email is in the promo tab, the likelihood of it converting better off of an open is much higher than in the inbox. The assumption here is that people go to this tab when they are ready to buy something, so they are already in that mindset.

Maddie Bertschmann: What are some B2C brands that come to mind with the best emails? B2B?

Matthew: 

• Nike
• hers
• Tattly
• Netflix
• Airbnb
• Chubbies
• Thumbtack

Conor Irvine: Code compatibility is something that I am continually thinking about. When considering fonts and making emails feel \'on brand\' - do you have any tips for getting around web fonts not supported by all?

Matthew: Good question, Conor.

I think the best protocol is to simply have a great font-family fallback. Also, I’d suggest that not all of the email needs to be using web fonts. Figure out which of the typefaces you use are the most brand memorable (usually headings) and use that. It keeps your email loading faster and more consistent if you use only one webfont, but some brands need it for everything.

Marianne Flageole: Do you suggest any easy training to be able to code emails?

Matthew:

• Litmus Email Coding Courses
• Khan Academy Intro HTML/CSS
• Skillshare Intro to HTML Email Development

Marianne Flageole: Thanks!!

Nikki Collins: WOW, gold! Thanks!

Jen Hibbits: This is just what I needed. Thank you @Whale!

Matthew: Woop Woop

Jheri Malm: Which email client compatibility for emails do you find the hardest to work with?

Matthew: That’s a good question. I don’t code our emails, but generally, I’d say that the older versions of Outlook are the trickiest.

Ashton Jeong: Hello, I’m a Product Marketer in Class101, Korea. In Korea, users are not familiar with Email Marketing. It\'s hard to make purchases with Email. So, I treat Email as a kind of content, not just for direct conversions. Do you have any good cases with this kind of approach?

Matthew: I think Invision does an excellent job of this.

Ashton: Do you think the way I use email as content is a good way, though?

Matthew: I think it can work, yes, but I do believe you can directly drive customers to the site for buying a product through email. This is wildly successful as a strategy.

Mike: 안녕하세요! Stibee가 뭘했는지 봤어요? (10넨 전에 서울에 살았어요.) Stibee가 한국 이메일을이해해요.

Stacey Shanken: Do you see that more users are using dark mode lately? Do you always design emails with dark mode in mind or sometimes adjust your email after the initial creative is made to fit dark mode?

Matthew: IMO Dark Mode is “neat” but not a priority. There still aren’t enough hooks to be able to consistently design/build for dark mode.

I’m in the camp of making sure you have a background color set, so you control what it looks like until we have better control over that at some point in the future.

Jada Miller: What are some easy run-of-the-mill email campaigns that make the customer feel appreciated, but that we don\'t usually think about?

Matthew: 

• Anniversary of them signing up
• Half-birthday. (don’t give gifts when people expect it. That’s boring)
• Survey/Quiz for a prize (Chipotle just NAILED THIS here)
• Tell the brand story and involve your customer in it. Get them feeling or connecting to the brand.

Maggie Wessell: In your opinion, how often should you email your customers? How do you balance being top-of-mind and being annoying (and getting the dreaded unsubscribe)?

Mike: I have a feeling that a lot of our answers are going to start with “depends.” But this is one that you want to keep an eye on unsubscribe rates for. As you increase your cadence, what happens? Also, in your preference center, do you have an option for people to get fewer emails from you?

Here are some things we’ve done at RGE to curb the number of emails that people get:

• We send two emails out per week. If you think that is too much, you can opt-out of the first email or the second email.
• We give a priority and scoring to our content. And we limit the real estate for that content. So, it ensures that the best content makes it, and the stuff that probably doesn’t matter is left out.
• We set expectations from the sign-up on how many emails they get from us.

Katie Baldwin: What are your thoughts on clickbait subject lines? (i.e., \\"Re: Your Latest Order\\" or \\"Re: Out of Office\\")

Matthew: Don’t do them. Email clients are getting smarter on detecting what would be considered a spam message from subject lines, sender names, etc. If you have never sent an email with a subject line of “Your Last Order,” Gmail and the like can see that it isn’t a real reply and will most likely move you out of the inbox. Stick to subject lines that are clear and serve your reader. That doesn’t mean that they have to be boring, but if the experience doesn’t match the expectation, you’ll have a bigger set of unsubs on your hands.

Melissa Muncy: If you don\'t have a lot of data gathered on your readers (such as first name, where they live, etc.), what are some other creative ways to personalize the weekly newsletter they receive?

Matthew: You can’t personalize for what you don’t know about your customer.

• Do you know what they’ve clicked on before?
• Can you segment your customers using demographic data? (be careful with this)
• Can you segment your customers based on what they have shopped for?
• Start asking them questions, including if they’d like more personalized emails. If the answer is yes, they’d gladly answer a few questions. If the answer is no, then leave them alone.

Nisha Mehta: Not a question, but would love (at some point) for RGE to allow members to include message performance stats (opens, clicks, etc.) with their emails showcased on the blog. I find myself guilty of looking at RGE for design inspiration, but in reality, I don\'t know how the emails performed (i.e., is this something to be inspired by or more of a learning opportunity?).

Matthew: You can understand why we don’t have that data now. It’s private \uD83D\uDE42 That said, we’re moving to a place where YOU can record that information about your emails that you upload. It’s coming…

\uD83D\uDC4D I WISH we had that data to share, though. But each company keeps that private for competitive reasons.

Blaine Hostetler: You can also use that inspiration as a learning opportunity if it makes sense for your brand by A/B testing… then you have tried out the idea, made it workable for YOU, and gain metric insight comparing the two variables.

Jheri Malm: How would you know if your new email design performed well? A/B test?

Matthew: Just ask it. JK. You’d need a baseline and then making specific changes to your email design. You can also get qual results by asking your customers.

Mike: \uD83D\uDC4B - Hey, everyone. Mike here from RGE. Late to the party, but glad I didn’t miss it. Thanks for giving @Whale arthritis. I’ll be jumping in and helping out as well.

Whale: @Mike Nelson - RGE I love you, dude. Welcome to the party.

Kelly Cunningham: Would you recommend segmenting campaigns based on the user’s geolocation to allow for more tailored messaging or images that speak to the user’s culture? I.e., Fitness is perceived differently across the globe.

Matthew: It depends on the level of effort for the bang you’d get from it. But generally, anytime you can create a more tailored experience for users, you’re getting closer to solving whatever sucks in their lives that made them want to start using your product, service, content, etc.

If you have the bandwidth, do it! Test it, ask customers if they like it.

Katie Baldwin: How do you balance leveraging email to develop/maintain brand voice vs. driving user action? Should every email be action-oriented?

Matthew: The customer is hiring the email to do a job for them. The job is likely to serve them in some way. That includes BEING you (the brand). The action should not be about the company (that’s narcissistic) but instead about the customer (that’s empathetic). When you relieve whatever sucks for your customers well, you have product-market fit and win.

So, it’s both. You always want both.

Some emails are more brand than action and vice versa. Think relationally about it to get your answer.

Jeffrey Blom: Any thoughts on when to use GIFs in emails? When do they genuinely add value for customers?

Matthew: The answer lies in knowing your customer.

• Does the GIF make the email more enjoyable?
• Does the GIF make the email clearer and more understandable?
• Does the GIF make the email too large file size and slow down their reading?
• Does the GIF make them laugh?
• Does the GIF communicate the brand?

Katie Baldwin: What are some of the best calls to action? Are \'softer\' CTAs better in your opinion? (Explore More vs. Shop Now)

Matthew: The answer has to do with your audience. Are they in a functional mode or an exploratory mode when reading your email? Figure out what would serve them the best and do that. I suggest specificity where possible. “Read about dogs” rather than “read more.”

Krissy Isenberg: What should be included in the footer of an email? How many calls to action are too many?

Matthew:

Footer:

• Navigation
• Social (but I’d suggest SHOWING them the social from your site, rather than just links)
• Required legal information and unsub and address
• Keep legal to links, not LONG stupid legal that doesn’t serve the customer.

CTAs

• When you’re having a convo with a friend, how many questions within a short convo is too many? Think about it relationally and that’s your answer.

Yvonne Ly: Two-part question!

1. Do you have suggestions on how to keep audiences engaged through a sequence of emails? (i.e., email [1/3] directly in the subject line, teasing the next email\'s content in the first email, etc.)
2. If the goal is to get the audience to action something after every step (i.e., complete your profile) - how spread out should these emails go out?

Matthew: As with my other answers, my suggestion is to think relationally.

1. Tell a story about where you’re going with your content. It helps people get a sense of whether they want to come on a journey with you. It’s like FedEx package tracking. Give them a sense of what to expect.
2. Timing should feel like you’re present but not annoying. I’d suggest that you don’t do every day but help keep your product top of mind. Even better if you can trigger it based on an event like them finishing a task, and then give them the next task a couple of hours later.

Nikki Collins: Is there a best practice related to multiple languages? For example, if you have one email that needs to be available in 10 languages, is it wise to use liquid tags and have one VERY long email with code/text for every language (then it\'s served to the person in their indicated language) or is it better to make ten emails, so the code is short and clean? Concerns around deliverability, load time, etc. with the former option.

Mike: You could do liquid, but that seems like a lot of trouble to do the database lookups and ensure that the content is there from the respective language owners. Doing it as dynamic content (if your ESP allows that) will give you a sense of how that looks as well since some languages may have orphan text because or word length.

Nikki Collins: Dynamic content = connected content?

Mike: Not sure what it is called in your ESP, but essentially it is a content block that changes based on segmentation or rules for that specific subscriber. You usually can stack them as you build it out, but the user will only see the applicable version.

Matthew: What @Mike Nelson - RGE said

Mike:

Matt Pogor: Let’s say you are starting from scratch. What are some good ways to get to know your audience better so you can send better and more relevant communications?

Matthew: LOVE this question. It shows empathy.

1. Let your audience know you’re dying to learn more about them, so you don’t give them crappy content or the wrong product. Ask them if they’d like to have more personalized content. If the answer is yes, then they are willing to answer questions. If not, leave them alone \uD83D\uDE42
2. Surveys are great. Plan them carefully. Don’t do them too often.
3. Interviews with segmented audiences are great. Give them something in return for their time. Amazon or Etsy gift cards are great.
4. Start putting events on your emails so you can segment based on what users are doing, clicking, buying, etc.

Alejandra Escobal: Hello there \uD83D\uDE42 Would you recommend using a more granular marketing consent? For example, one for only newsletters or promotions or brand or transactional or service messages. If it’s a good practice, how would you manage frequency?

Matthew: 

1. Yes. I think it’s more relational and empathetic to precisely ask your audience what content they want and probably avoid them unsubscribing wholesale.
2. Frequency can be insanely hard. I don’t think ANY ESPs or MPs are doing this well that I know of, but overall try and BE a customer and see how the frequency FEELS like a customer who takes actions on your site, etc.

Matthew: Okay, I HAVE QUESTIONS!

• What tools do you use to analyze your own company’s emails and talk about them as a team?
• What tools do you use to create a brief before starting a new email campaign or series?
• When you find an email you like, what tools do you use to share these emails with others?

XOXO \uD83D\uDE1B

Linh Tran: These are great questions!

• What tools do you use to analyze your own company’s emails and talk about them as a team? -> We’re not using any tool; would love some recommendations
• What tools do you use to create a brief before starting a new email campaign or series? -> Confluence
• When you find an email you like, what tools do you use to share these emails with others? -> Slack  \uD83D\uDE02

Maddie Bertschmann: I have one more question... What\'s the story with the whale, @Whale? \uD83D\uDC33

Matthew: hahaha.

1. I was on Twitter/Instagram/Dribbble way long ago. I’m like 142 years old.
2. My brand back then was called Squared Eye, and the Whale was the logo.
3. I changed all my handles to Whale when I sold that company. I’m kind of a big personality (loud and in your face, but also really kind and sweet) Like a Whale.

Maddie Bertschmann: That’s a wrap! @Whale and @Mike Nelson - RGE can spend a couple of minutes closing out loose ends here, but then you\'re off the hook \uD83D\uDE02 Thanks to everyone for participating, and big thanks to RGE for your time and insights! Epic AMA! \uD83D\uDC4F

Matthew: @Maddie Bertschmann thank you so much for having us \uD83D\uDE42

Mike: Ditto ☝️

You need to think strategically and empathetically when deciding how often to email your customers.

How many emails should I send customers the first 30 days after they register? What are your open rates like? What about retention, activations, or even payments? How do I know if I’m sending too many emails?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/W09dbyjEuAY

These questions are common and understandable. But, in my opinion, they are misguided, too granular, and missing the greater point.

As an email strategist, when I get specific questions like these, I push clients to take a step back. In other words, what is the purpose of your email program in the first place and how can you effectively partner (yes, partner) with your customers to come to win-win scenarios. 

The truth is that a lot of context and critical thinking is needed to decide how to onboard new customer segments as well as how to keep a meaningful relationship with them on an ongoing basis.

It’s true that you want to avoid being over-aggressive with your customers but not enough people talk about the opposite issue, which is not being aggressive enough in helping your customers realize the full potential of why they signed up for your product or service in the first place.

So, if it takes a ton of critical thinking and context to nail your email messaging cadence, then what is a good framework for coming up with an intuitive MVP so that you are starting in the right ballpark?

I recently conducted a brainstorm with a startup group in Asheville, NC that is in its infancy and had two, not just one, target audiences that needed very different email strategies.

What started out as a discovery meeting where I was asking lots of questions and even ‘winging-it’ from a solutions standpoint luckily turned into a framework that I believe is company and industry agnostic and can help many of you when considering onboarding and ongoing cadence.

Before I share my framework idea, let’s cover some definitions.

Cadence vs Frequency

For whatever reason, the nuances between these two terms have tripped me up in the past. Therefore, I decided to grab some concise definitions from a third party. Here taken directly from Fulcrumtech.net.

Whereas frequency is the number of emails sent in a given period of time, cadence encompasses the timing and pattern of emails sent. For example, cadence includes how many emails are sent and the amount of time between each of the emails, as well as the email content and the audience receiving the emails.

In other words, frequency is a more narrow definition and is better discussed for email tactics around a specific time frame. And cadence is more holistic. You could use either to inform most discussions around email programs and especially things like 30-day onboarding.

Regardless, I’d recommend first looking at things from an even higher level.

A Simple Framework to Use for Determining a Scalable Cadence

As is with most great frameworks, simplicity can be an asset. And with that in mind, here are my recommendations for deciding on cadence strategies for your audiences:

1) Define your highest-level parent segment(s)

• For many companies, this could be just one to two personas.
• For example, with Grammarly’s MVP Freemium onboarding back in 2014 we had several child segments and side tracks but the highest level consisted of just two parent segments — ‘free’ and ‘premium’

2) For each segment, create two columns to list and rank the actions you most desire these segments to do. This will be your ‘impact rank’.

• I recommend a simple ranking of 1–5 with 1 being the highest

3) Now add a third column to rank the ‘tolerance’ level you perceive those users to have for getting requests to make those actions with 1 being very tolerant and 5 being very intolerant. This will be your ‘tolerance rank’.

Coming up with the actions (i.e. business metrics) your company desires most should be rather easy. Doing the same exercise around ‘tolerance’ should be a little more difficult. In this case, you need to use your empathy and put yourself in the customer’s position.

Now, to illustrate the framework further, here’s a simple snapshot of what this exercise could yield like for Airbnb. NOTE: I did this just for fun and did not consult with anyone at Airbnb to come up with the strategy.

Parent Segments:

A: Hosts

B. People Searching for a Place to Stay

Table for Hosts:

Table for Prospective Guests

Explaining My Tables

The first thing you probably noticed for the ‘Hosts’ table is that the impact and tolerance ranks are matching up. I did this to make a point that, in general, I see hosts and Airbnb as sharing the same business goals. They are essential partners, given the rev-share model. If the hosts win, Airbnb wins.

And so when Airbnb starts nudging a host to complete or improve their profile, it should be quite easy to justify a fairly aggressive cadence of emails both for the marketer and for the recipients. Things like ‘Improve Your Profile to Land Your First Guests’ should be palatable to receive. Even several times as long as the tactic and subject line changes each time.

However, for prospective guests, you have a different ball-game. You are going to have so many different child segments that sign up and are only passively looking and may end up booking their next trip using another service. And just because they don’t use Airbnb this time doesn’t mean they couldn’t be a customer in the future — as long as you don’t piss them off.

That’s why for this parent segment I have lower levels of tolerance and you need to take a less aggressive strategy. If you are not realistic and focus on a long-term strategy then you could create a relationship that feels too desperate and gets them to unsubscribe.

For example, just because I registered doesn’t mean I want to create a wish list or book a stay. I’m just in my research stage. And just because I had a successful stay does not mean I want to leave a review. I may not see the value in that or may have had a mediocre experience and don’t feel like being honest because I knew what I was getting into already.

Additionally, if I’ve already used your service then I may be more tolerant to an ongoing relationship and using Airbnb again — especially if it was a positive experience. I put the tolerance # as 2 for booking a subsequent stay — meaning you could more confidently check in with this person and keep them updated on new features, specials, etc. You can also track browse and save criteria to inform your follow-up tactics.

I could go on, but you probably get the point already. The above model is not going to tell you exactly how many emails to send or what tactics to use. But it can give you confidence on how aggressive you can be for dedicated emails around certain actions. And, for me, that’s a great place to start.

Personalizing the customer experience from the moment you lay eyes on their email address can set you both up for a wonderful relationship.

Segmentation is really just another way of spelling “personalization.” It’s a strategy in building and maintaining relationships with your customers based on how they interact with your site and your products.

Marketers have seen as much as a 760% increase in revenue thanks to segmenting their campaigns. Audience segmentation comes down to reviewing customer engagement, personalizing the experience, and reflecting on behavioral stats to keep the conversation going.

Check out your audience’s engagement

Customers are looking for the right companies to commit to while companies analyze customer engagement. Build a relationship with your audience as soon as they show an interest in you.

Think about custom send dates and times based on when your audience is most active with your content or based on their location. Your audience will be more excited about your content when you send it at a time that’s convenient for them.

Add tags, create subscriber groups, and work with the information that you have to personalize the inbox experience. Do what works best for you and your audience based on the data you have.

You can use data such as when a customer signed up on your site to send an anniversary email. Send a personalized engagement email based on their activity on your site like Spotify does with users\' favorite artists and song play counts.

Send a product sale email based on a customer’s last order date, the purchase amount, and purchase type. You can use this for lapsed customers who haven\'t placed an order in a certain period of time as part of a re-engagement campaign.

Depending on the data that’s available to you and the email provider you use, you can be very broad or very detailed in your segmentation strategies.

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Personalize every message (not just the welcome email)

Customers love good news and progress reports. They want to know how many miles they ran, if they beat their friends in a challenge, and if they’re on the right track with their goals.

Fitbit sends weekly stat emails like this based on user activity. The user tracks their fitness activity on their device or in the app and can customize their goals in their profile. This personalization is a great example of how to keep your audience coming back for more with your products.

Create buckets based on user activity for different audience segments. In Fitbit\'s case, they might bucket their audience into extra active runners, average walkers, and people who need more motivation, and then personalize the messaging to those segments.

You can bucket your audience based on user profiles and how they interact with your product. By doing so, you can see how tailoring messaging related to those buckets on a personalized level impacts user behavior and activity later.

Celebrate your anniversary

Customers want to know they’re more than just dollars in a company’s pocket. Why do you think Chipotle and Taco Bell released branded swag? They know their customers love their brand and people love a comfy burrito sweatshirt. 

Celebrate customer milestones, including when they signed up for your platform or when they made their first purchase. Add fun, behavioral data in your emails, such as how many hours your customers perused your blog, what their favorite store candle scent from your store is, and if they finally caught up on the Mandalorian.

An anniversary email is a great way to keep customers engaged, or to re-engage them if they haven’t made a purchase or haven’t visited your site in a while. Using a re-engagement segmentation like this would be based on lapsed users or the time elapsed between purchases.

Make sure the messaging is clear like the PlayStation email above. Otherwise, subscribers might be confused about whether you’re celebrating their account anniversary or your company’s anniversary.

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Here’s another example where Care/of makes it clear that they’re celebrating the company’s birthday. They share internal milestones while encouraging the reader to join the fun by downloading the app or taking a quiz.

Expand on customer behavior stats

Jeff Rossi, previously Spotify’s Global Director of Business Marketing, mentioned that one out of every two Spotify streams is initiated by the user. When users dig a platform, they’ll spend more time interacting with the content and searching for what they like, giving companies the opportunity to segment and reciprocate that interaction.

Spotify segments their emails according to user location and user behavior in the app and on the website. This Time Capsule email leads the user to a personalized playlist, created by Spotify, based on throwback songs and artists that the user listened to most often.

Spotify also sends a handy “Upcoming concerts near you” email, pulling updated artist info, venues, and show dates based on user location and streaming activity.

In a third example, Spotify shares how many minutes users streamed audio on Spotify and/or how many different songs they listened to. When users click the CTA button, Spotify sends them to a customized playlist based on the songs and podcasts they listened to the most that year. All of these examples personalize the experience, bringing people back to Spotify’s platform.

Segment your audience based on previous purchases

When a customer walks out of a brick and mortar, that could be the end of the company-customer relationship unless they hit it off one-on-one. But if a customer signs up with their email address or phone number (in-store and online), that’s an opportunity to continue the relationship based on a customer’s purchase activity.

You have the opportunity to ask for feedback. Request a product review after the customer buys that swanky chair. Or send a survey to get feedback on their shopping experience. You can also send follow-up emails for a customer to buy an item again, purchase a refill (hello, fridge water filters), or renew their membership.

If a customer hasn’t purchased from you in a certain amount of time, or if they’ve left an item in their online cart, this is a great opportunity to check back in with that customer. You don’t want them to leave you on read without taking action.

They might still be interested in that product, but they got distracted. Life got busy and they exited all tabs instead of just the tab with all the annoying notifications. Sending a personalized email based on customer purchase behavior is key to bringing them back to your site.

Segmentation can save you money, especially with SMS marketing

When you send a targeted message to a specific group of people, you can save money by sending fewer emails or fewer SMS messages. SMS marketing is a solid way to reach your customers (as a complement to emails) when you’re ready to take the customer relationship to the next level.

You can use SMS marketing to send a quick and concise message, sharing a product launch or a promo code. Keep in mind, you might have more opt-outs in SMS marketing than email marketing due to the personal nature of SMS messages. Make sure you send engaging messages that benefit the person on the other side of the screen.

You have a lot of options to segment your SMS messaging:

• New customers
• Returning customers
• VIP memberships
• Number of purchases
• Purchase type
• Last purchase date
• Abandoned cart customers (new vs. returning customers)

These are all opportunities for re-engagement and win-back campaigns. Make every message relevant. Track customer activity and integrate with tools like Zapier, CartHook, Omnisend, and Klaviyo to filter that activity and adjust your SMS campaigns.

Build a solid plan for your audience segmentation and stick with it.

At the end of the day, segmentation is really just checking in with your customers, reminding them to return to what they love. Think about what they’re interested in, what they’re buying, and what they’re interacting with on your site.

Email is landing pages delivered. Guide your customers with personalized messaging based on their behavior, and deliver that experience in the best way possible.

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In part 1 of this 3-part series, you\'ll learn basic personalization using user profile and demographic data!

When building a first-class customer experience, every little detail counts. Leaders like Spotify, Amazon and Netflix have ushered in a new era of convenience and personalization we didn’t know was possible.

Now it’s on all brands to live up to these high standards. Though challenging, there’s hope—83% of consumers will share their data in return for more personalized experiences.

In this class, experts from the Iterable team will cover the basics of how to user profile and event data to create personalized email and cross-channel messaging that supports a best-in-class customer experience.

You’ll learn how to:

• Create custom events for lifecycle milestones, like downloading an app or visiting a high-intent webpage
• Build the perfect email template that incorporates hyper-specific user profile data
• Launch a foolproof campaign that delivers individualized customer messaging

Who should come?

B2C marketers that focus on customer lifecycle / retention / CRM

Email, mobile and cross-channel strategists

Verticals: retail/e-commerce, subscription services, media & entertainment, food & beverage, travel, consumer tech

Enterprise businesses looking to replace a legacy marketing cloud

People looking to see what Iterable is capable of

Who should maybe skip this one?

B2B marketers, Small businesses, Marketers in highly regulated industries (healthcare, finance, etc.), developers and designers who strictly write code and design from scratch

Note:

This class is part 1 in a 3-part series. While you\'re encouraged to attend all 3 classes, each class stands well on its own. Choose 1, 2, or all 3!

Alyssa Jarrett is Head of Brand & Content at Iterable, where she specializes in creating data-driven content to educate growth marketers on how to develop world-class customer engagement. She has previously served in marketing roles for companies in SaaS and big data, including Ripple, Objectivity, Splice Machine, and Cray.

Katie Barends is a New Jersey native turned California girl now living in Denver (with a few years in Florida along the way). Katie got her start in journalism, focusing on communicating and storytelling in every interaction. She has a knack for strategic conversations and helping others realize and achieve their goals. She\'s been in the tech world for the last 5 years working with Fortune 100 and C-Suite decision-makers across all industries. In that time, Katie has held a variety of roles in solutions consulting, sales coaching, and product and customer marketing to support both not only customers and prospects but also internal partners.

*All classes are recorded and will be sent out to all registrants for those that can\'t attend live and/or want to rewatch over and over again (who wouldn\'t?!)

**By joining us for this class, you’ll also get free newsletters from Really Good Emails and Iterable(if you aren\'t already). You can unsubscribe from either or both at any time.

Why do organizations still utilize pop-ups when clearly anyone you ask hates them? This is what we found.

For how annoying they are and how much they go against UX best practices, it seems like you can’t go to a website these days without getting served an unapologetic pop-up.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/2rYtuTtpeFs

We all know how we feel when this happens:

• Frustrated
• Insulted
• Tricked
• Instantly unengaged

The thing that makes me wonder is why every company continues to do this when we know that there’s a collective feeling of disdain for these experiences. So I went digging to find out what I could find about pop-ups.

In the 1990s, Ethan Zuckerman (no relation to Mortimer Zuckerman who owned The Atlantic, Forbes, and Fast Company from what we could find) created the pop-up ad because some advertisers didn\'t want their banner sitting directly next to some content. The pop-up was a way to get around that - by putting the ad in another small browser which didn\'t \\"directly\\" correlate to the content of the page. But Zuckerman hates what he did. Not only because he thinks that an ad-run model isn\'t the best for the internet, but because of how rampant the annoying practice became.

And it turns out that there’s a lot of research out there about the annoyance of pop-ups. OptinMonster, a company that is known for creating opt-in pop-up forms, admitted to the negative feedback that they get for the experience. Marketing coalitions have conducted experiments with different sizes and types that show that pop-ups are some of the most loathed things that can be done on a site, such as this one:

And this one, showing that a pop-up is more positively correlated with annoyance, distracting, and creepy and negatively correlated with being “useful” to the user:

Google has even been penalizing websites which use intrusive pop-ups, which they define as:

• A popup that covers the main content, either immediately after the user navigates to the page or while they are looking through the page
• Using a layout where the above-the-fold portion of the page appears to be an interstitial, but the original content has been pushed below the fold
• Forcing the dismissal of a standalone interstitial before accessing the main content

(source: Google)

So without asking the question of “do pop-ups work?” it seems like everyone is in agreement that they are definitely annoying.

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But here’s the thing: If they are so annoying, why is everyone still doing it? Because annoying doesn’t equal ineffective. And if done right, they can actually have a positive impact on your readers and business. 

The biggest thing that people will talk about when using a pop-up for newsletter subscribers is how much your list will grow. Here at ReallyGoodEmails.com, we tested that theory out with our own pop-up form on our site. We used different copy, different positioning, different timing, different colors, etc. Before we launched our new site, it looked like this:

On an average day, we were converting about 2.3% of our users. It was pretty consistent, so on days where traffic spiked (which is typically Monday and Tuesdays) we’d see a steep bump in sign-up volume and then flatten out (and sometimes dip) over the weekends.

But we were under the impression that we pointed out earlier; the impression that pop-ups were an annoyance and if we wanted people to enjoy the site and become loyal readers, we didn’t want them to be frustrated or come back less because of our pop-up. Plus, we had a ton of people every week write to us to say that their colleague had referred them to our newsletter or they had seen a snippet of it online somewhere and were manually signing up without being prompted via a pop-up. So with those two things, we decided to remove the pop-up completely and see what happened.

For most people, this is where their alarm bells would be going off. Could you imagine going to your boss and telling them that you were going to stop asking people for their email addresses?

While we were still seeing new subscribers through that non-pop-up method, our list size was in decline. This is because our weekly unsubscribes (due to bounces, natural churn, and people who definitely didn’t like what we were sending) were more than those super eager new subscribers who had to find their way to our sign-up form. This is what we call a negative delta, and something that I was taught was the worst thing an email marketer could see.

But we at RGE don’t really care about list size. We often say: “Build relationships. Not lists.” We are okay with people leaving our lists because we’d rather talk to the people who want to hear from us than try to get the attention of those who could hear from us. The importance of list size is based on vanity metrics and billables. Most ESPs and bosses put an emphasis on how many people are on your list, not who is on your list. If anything, this little test reinforced this position that your most engaged readers are the ones you should be serving.

With that perspective, we clearly had a problem with our messaging for a portion of our users who were opting out. And after reaching out to a few we found some common things that we worked towards fixing, which ultimately brought us back to a positive delta for our list. 

Now that we had dammed up the issue, we could’ve easily kept our pop-up hidden and grown our subscribers slowly. And actually, this amount is what we kept as our new control - we know in a given week how much we should expect from organic new subscribers without any promotion. But that seems silly to not promote the newsletter in different ways. But going back to our earlier statement about building relationships, promoting the newsletter to just hit a growth number isn\'t right. Number of subscribers doesn\'t mean anything. It\'s just a vanity metric.

But with us fixing the underlying issues, we felt comfortable getting the newsletter in the hands of those people who actually wanted to see it. And the pop-up was the next thing to bring back into the picture. That\'s because, on top of growing a list (which we’ve already pointed out isn’t the best thing to focus on), pop-ups can do some other things. For example, they can:

• grab the most likely people who will engage with your brand in the long run
• People who will buy your stuff
• People who will promote your content and products to others
• People you don’t have to win-over again through paid media spend
• re-emphasize your value propositions
• Products that you sell
• Mission statement or core competencies
• Tailored experiences meant for the visitor
• reach folks you want to retarget
• Show pop-ups to visitors clicking thru from email marketing
• Show pop-ups to visitors clicking thru from paid ads
• alert those who need to know certain kinds of information
• Explain forces such as COVID or high demand that has limited resources
• Prompt them to upgrade for a feature they are trying to access
• Remind them of store hours

Of the list above, really honing in on the users that come from your other marketing efforts seems like the biggest no-brainer. We know how expensive AdWords or Facebook targeting can be, so making sure that you message them based on that profile is important.

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While researching, we found that Cocofloss is doing this: They use MuteSix to help target the right kind of audience who may be interested in their hipster floss and then use JustUno’s targeting by referral source to make sure the messaging in the pop-up is written to resonate with that demographic. The result has been a decrease of 25% to their cost per acquisition because they are able to capture the potential buyer quicker with the right kind of messaging to keep them engaged. (Full disclosure that JustUno sponsors RGE, but they aren’t sponsoring this article nor are they compensating us for writing it.)

Which brings us back to why pop-ups can be so powerful when done right. There are plenty of email capture options out there, but the ones that win with pop-ups are those who understand the context.

You know when a pop-up is beneficial when it isn’t nagging the visitor, but rather nudging them. Here’s how you know the difference between the two. The definition of nag is that it annoys or irritates a person with persistent or continuous urging. On the other hand, nudge is a gentle prod that typically is done to draw attention to something. Would you rather feel nagged or nudged?

Nudging is done best when in context. For example, when someone is about to leave. Or when they’ve made their way far enough into the site to understand the value of being nudged in some way. So when you are thinking of implementing your pop-ups, here’s some research we found on the topic from Sleeknote:

• Pop-ups with images convert 83% better than pop-ups without images
• Pop-ups with countdown timers convert 112% better than pop-ups without them
• Not all pop-ups need a countdown timer, of course. After all, there’s no urgency for a website visitor to join your email list. But if you’re running a time-sensitive campaign like an on-page giveaway or seasonal promotion, test adding a countdown timer to your popup. 
• Adding a countdown timer to a pop-up communicates urgency and moves visitors to action.
• Pop-ups with two input fields convert better than any other
• If you want to hurt your chances of getting an email address, include more than 2 input fields
• 76% of subscribers input more information when asked to do so in a two-step pop-up.
• Pop-ups that were shown at 8 seconds convert better than pop-ups shown before or after
• Pop-ups shown at 35% scroll depth convert better than pop-ups shown before or after

And when it comes to designs, here’s what you should consider:

• Stay away from dark patterns. Those are elements such as forcing someone to click on a button rather than click outside the pop-up to close it. Worse off is shaming the user for not entering their information or tricking them into entering their info.
• The headline is the first impression, and one that is confusing will all but guarantee you won’t be seeing that person again. Being vague has never helped anyone. “Sign Up for Coupons” is a lot more direct and clear than “Receive Our Emails” (what emails?).
• Clearly state something of value. “What’s in it for me?” If you can’t answer this question from your visitor’s perspective, it’s time to return to the pop-up drawing board. This pop-up form is about to begin a relationship between you and a customer, and it has to be a give and take.
• Include some social proof if you’ve got it. This is a great sign that other people are getting value out of what you are presenting. Think of this in ways of “X many people receive our newsletter each week” or “X people save $Y on average after getting one of our emails.”
• Location can bring attention to your pop-up. Of the places to put your pop-up, here’s the average submission conversion rates:
• Full-screen (~7% CVR)
• Center (~5% CVR)
• Fixed banner (~2% CVR)
• Corner (~1% CVR)

There’s a lot more to consider about pop-up designs and strategy, but it all comes back to serving the end user. One of our mantras at RGE is to build relationships, not lists. When thinking about why you want people to give you their information, thinking in this context should guide you better than anything else.

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In 2020, email open rates, conversion rates, and revenue per recipient saw a significant increase from the prior year in health and beauty and apparel and accessories, the two largest e-commerce industries. How can you stand out with your e-commerce email marketing? Understand what the email’s job is, who your audience is, and how you can set up e-commerce automation campaigns to serve up really good emails for your customers and save yourself time.

In 2020, email open rates, conversion rates, and revenue per recipient saw a significant increase from the prior year in health and beauty and apparel and accessories, the two largest e-commerce industries.

With an estimated 4.1 billion email users (including test accounts, real accounts, and other accounts we created years ago for Neopets) and 120+ business emails being sent and received every day, how can you stand out with your e-commerce email marketing?

Understand what the email’s job is, who your audience is, and how you can set up e-commerce automation campaigns to serve up really good emails for your customers and save yourself time. Let’s jump into a few e-commerce automations you can brainstorm to create or to tweak existing campaigns.

Welcome Emails

The welcome email is your virtual handshake, your, “Welcome to the party!” for your customers to get to know your company, your products, and your services. Make it count by showing off your company’s best pair of shoes, your favorite socks, and maybe even a photo of your dog if that sort of thing is on-brand. The key here is to introduce who you are, what problem your products or services solve, and why your audience should care.

Introduce your company colors, work in your company values, and add some smart copywriting with minimal design. Focus on the email messaging to connect with your customers one-on-one.

You can create a series of welcome emails to introduce different product lines or services, or keep it simple with a single welcome email. Either way, update these welcome emails frequently to reflect new logos, branding colors, verbiage, and other details.

Discounts

What do customers love more than buying that candle that’s been sitting in their Wish List for a few weeks? Discounts. Saving money, coupon clipping, promo codes, cash back. Customers might wait for a sale, an email nudge, or sign up for a newsletter to get an extra 10%+ off on their order because it feels good to save money.

Set up an abandoned cart series. For example, after Smiles Davis walked away from his computer after browsing Molekule purifiers, he received an email nudging him to buy that purifier with a percentage discount.

Setting up a discount email trigger can create a sense of urgency and show your customers that you appreciate them. The email encourages them to buy something now or sign up for your email list since they\'re showing an interest by interacting with your website.

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Reviews & User-Generated Content

Search social media to see what people are saying about your products, and request permission to use customer testimonials in your marketing emails. Sprinkling reviews in your emails - welcome emails, thank you emails, and more - shows that real people are using and reacting to your products.

Keep an eye out for customer emails too. No matter how big or small a business is, customer support emails can be some of the most important emails with the best feedback. These emails usually come from loyal customers who write in unpromptedly, or enthusiastically fill out your surveys, and these might be the best reviews to feature.

Abandoned Cart

One of the last things you want is for customers to leave something that they love in their cart.

Maybe they got busy. Maybe they’re waiting for payday. Or, maybe they really don’t want that thing that’s in their cart. (But we’re gonna stick with the reasoning that maybe they were busy...)

Set up a series of e-commerce automation emails to tell the customer how they\'ll be missing out if they don’t purchase the item. Be strategic with the amount of time between each email send (ex: 12 hours after cart abandonment).

Also, look past the sale - what’s the human element? What will hook them to where they’ll need to complete the purchase? Give them an incentive, such as free shipping, a free gift, or a discount on the entire order, and remind customers of how this product or service will solve a problem for them.

Post-Purchase E-Commerce Automation

Think of the post-purchase process like you’re saying goodbye to a friend. You wouldn’t just leave them hanging when you walk away or log off, right? You’d probably give them an elbow bump, send them a text when you get home, or give them a slightly awkward wave on the screen.

The post-purchase process should focus on maintaining that very relationship. The next time the customer sees your name pop up in their inbox, you won’t be strangers but you\'ll be familiar.

Order Confirmation & Purchase Tracking

Create a series of emails to be triggered after a purchase. This might include an order confirmation/thank you email, a shipping confirmation email with the estimated delivery date, a delivery confirmation email, and then a follow-up email to make sure the customer has everything that they need.

You can also start this experience on the order confirmation page like Kohl\'s did here with information such as the order number, amount of money the customer saved, and rewards they earned.

Surveys

Once the customer receives the item, ask for feedback with a short survey. Asking for quick feedback - something that won\'t take more than 2 - 3 minutes to fill out - will give you content for future email campaigns, along with information on how you can improve your product or reassurance with what\'s working.

SMS 

Take the e-commerce automation a step further with SMS messaging. Personalize the messaging using first name, information about the order, related products, and what the customer can expect to be up next on deck.

Photo from Fantastic Texts

Remember: Automation is More than Set It and Forget It

Test your email automations on an ongoing basis. Make sure triggers are working and signup bars are set up correctly. Adjust the email content according to the season, sales prices, customer feedback, and company updates to keep the messaging and design fresh for your audience.

Make Your Customers Feel Valued with E-Commerce Automation

Need more e-commerce email inspiration to get started or to adjust existing campaigns? Sign up for a Really Good Emails account or sign in and start collecting your favorite emails. Save \'em for later to collaborate with your team.

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E-commerce emails are more than sales and product launches. When you have someone’s email, you have the ability to communicate your values and re-emphasize why people gave them your email.

\\"One brand that comes to mind is Chubbies. I may only buy a couple pairs of shorts from them per year, but I continue to read their emails because they put in a lot of effort to create an email that will make me smile,\\" Mike Nelson mentioned. \\"I often find myself reading their blog or other things they link to because I trust the brand. Not only do I deepen my loyalty to the brand, but the content they produce allows me to evangelize the company to my friends.\\"

“Don’t just sell a product but sell what it’s going to do for the person,” Matthew Smith said. “I don’t want shoes. I wanna run. I don’t want to just put something on my feet. I have a job to do, and I want your tool to help me do that. The email should help me understand how it will help me do that.”

Some common characteristics of a really good e-commerce email are:

• Easy to understand
• Clean design
• Clarifies product information
• Smart product staging
• Shows product in context with other products
• Tells a story – sells what the product is going to do for the consumer

Check out these 12 really good e-commerce emails!

1) Nike

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/work-out-in-this

Nike is known for sending motivational emails and social media campaigns with athletes doing what they do best. This e-commerce email puts the spotlight on training, showing the products in action in three different training scenarios. The email does a great job of incorporating interactive elements, allowing the audience to hover over the plus signs to learn more about each item and shop.

What makes this a really good email

• Interactive email
• Shows the product in action
• Different scenarios with the products
• On-brand

2) Bose

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/a-sneak-peek-at-our-rose-gold-future

I’m partial to this email because I love just about anything that’s rose gold...putting that style aside, this is a really good e-commerce email with live text inside the headphones, and two clear CTAs to pre-order the item. The verbiage remains upbeat, explaining how the product can help the audience level up their music and style, plus its capabilities with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.

What makes this a really good email

• Fun image
• Describes features
• Short and to the point
• Clear CTA

3) Google

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/introducing-pixel-4-the-new-nest-mini-and-more/

Google always makes its releases fun and interactive online (remember how Google teased the Pixel 4A?). This email is full of the company’s colors and branding, different products, and all-around fun in a “family photo.” The design seamlessly explains each Google product, the benefits, and why these products are a step up from the rest.

What makes this a really good email

• On-brand:
• Creative product staging
• Explains the value of each product
• Clear CTAs
• Fun design

Ad:

4) Baggu

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/groovy-new-bags

Baggu’s groovy product announcement transports its audience to the 60’s with the design fonts, florals, and prints. The email shows people carrying the bags (and apple pouch!), as well as the bags in a flat lay so the audience can get a good idea of the different prints, sizes, and uses.

What makes this a really good email

• On-brand
• Product staging
• Clear CTAs
• Showcases different versions of the product

5) Lululemon

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/in-this-together-wherever-you-are

Lululemon showcases different ways to interact with their brand even outside of browsing their activewear. They highlight options to stay active at home through their different social media platforms and the value of each one. Instead of adding a simple “follow us” button, Lululemon explains what people can find in the company’s online hub, Instagram sessions, and Facebook Group to bring virtual workouts and resources to their audience.

What makes this a really good email

• Clear CTAs
• Puns
• Shows different aspects of the product
• Provides value on different social platforms

6) Pulp & Press

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/15-off-any-2-cleanses-ends-soon-lovebirds-/

This Valentine’s Day e-commerce email keeps the theme consistent tying in red and pink throughout the design. Even the promo code sticks with the theme (“BETTERTOGETHER”). Pulp & Press reassures their audience that they can get their sugar fix while reaping the benefits of recommended nutrients.

What makes this a really good email

• Fun product staging
• Clearly explains what the product is
• Color coordination
• Promo code related to holiday
• Clear CTA

Ad:

7) Slowdown Studio

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/new-blankets/

Slowdown Studio gets creative by showcasing their woven blanket on a wall. The image draws in the audience so they can immediately picture the blanket in their own home. This email describes how the blankets are made, as well as highlighting a variety of blanket patterns to choose from.

What makes this a really good email

• Great product staging
• Shows blanket hanging up and in a flat lay
• Clear CTAs
• Clear product descriptions and pricing

8) Fleur & Bee

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/our-gift-to-you/

This email encourages the audience to take care of themselves and explains how their face cream can help. It highlights all the benefits of using this product – free of toxins, cruelty-free brand, and a portion of the proceeds go to charity. The email also shows the company’s “family tree” with additional skincare products to guide the audience through more options.

What makes this a really good email

• On-brand
• Promo code
• Clear CTA
• Nice product staging
• Describes product benefits
• Includes additional products that complement the main product

9) Grayers

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/brand-new-flannel-line-up/

This e-commerce email lets subscribers know right off the bat they’re seriously missing out if they’re not already wearing these high-quality flannels. The email goes on to showcase a good mix of flat lay photos with a variety of prints, styles, and colors, as well as other products that people can pair with the flannels.

What makes this a really good email

• Interesting layout
• Clear CTAs
• Describes the value of the product
• Good product staging
• Shows variety of styles and colors

10) White Horse Wine

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/weve-got-your-pizza-night-essentials/

This email is the definition of pivot. Our wine & spirits store always had a small gourmet food market (focused mostly on snacks and cheese), but when COVID-19 made it difficult for people to shop for groceries, we started carrying more food items people could make a meal out of to help fulfill that need.

This email empathizes with people who are stuck at home, fulfills a need for groceries, and packages it as a fun activity for those who found themselves with extra time on their hands.

Businesses have shifted their marketing tremendously during the pandemic, and White Horse Wine is no exception. They created a pickup option, and this email makes it easy for people craving a DIY pizza night paired with some other essentials.

What makes this a really good email

• Subject line emoji
• Clear CTA
• Clever product staging
• Use of white background and making a pizza
• Shows what products can be paired with each other

Ad:

11) Tracksmith

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/how-we-remastered-the-sweatsuit

This creative e-commerce email shares how the company put their own spin on the original sweatshirt, going into detail about how the items are made and how Tracksmith “remastered the sweatsuit.” Highlighting the Culture Club toward the bottom of the email also encourages the audience to stay engaged and continue the conversation on social media.

What makes this a really good email

• Tells a story
• Clear CTA
• Describes product and materials
• Product staging in different scenarios, in use and in a flat lay

12) Firebox

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/gotta-catch-em-all/

It was only time before a pokemon-themed email made its way to RGE. Despite the hype of the app, this email takes good use of edge-to-edge to put Pikachu\'s face front and center and two columns to layout the products and pricing. Plus, how often do you see an entirely yellow email?

This email is bright, fun, and creative for tech-enthusiasts (and Pok\xe9mon trainers). The design theme remains consistent by showcasing each charger in a Pok\xe9 Ball, explaining the features and pricing, and wrapping up the email with Pikachu’s tail.

What makes this a really good email

• Creative design
• On-brand
• Showcases different products
• Clear descriptions and pricing information
• Clear CTAs

Really Good E-commerce Email Collections

When you love emails, you create collections! Here are some really good e-commerce email collections:

Adam’s e-commerce collection highlights a combination of promos, offer codes, and sales emails with brands like Adidas, Uniqlo, and Casper.

https://reallygoodemails.com/adamb246/collections/iulw6YLkggdTluWD2JWV/

Yuyan’s e-commerce email collection focuses on the stories behind the products, including emails from Food52, Vita Home, and Good Eggs.

https://reallygoodemails.com/b2signyuyan/collections/onrkNLoG7AbIumu0zFAD/

This email collection is filled with e-commerce emails centered around clothing, furniture, phones, and more goodness from companies like The North Face, Beardbrand, and Apple.

https://reallygoodemails.com/studiocubey/collections/uzkJNsWtvozjxhB4NWyh/

Check out the e-commerce emails featured in this article (and more!).

https://reallygoodemails.com/kellylamano/collections/6bdA8V5fN7SbhFM9oJjf/

Sharing Really Good E-commerce Emails

Gain the trust of your subscribers, tell a story with your products, and keep your e-commerce emails fresh with interesting product staging. Make it easy for your audience to understand the solution you’re providing them with, and create a personalized experience for them.

“You wanna meet the person where they’re at. Why did they sign up for your emails in the first place? Get them to that information faster and with real clarity,” Matthew mentioned.

Love an e-commerce email that’s not on the list? Send us your email!

The best e-commerce emails don’t sell a product, they provide a solution. Engage your audience with creative product staging, personalization, and storytelling. \uD83D\uDED2

Your email looks perfect. But it’s broken…because it’s inaccessible.

When I started developing emails I thought everyone would be looking and experiencing them the same way I was. I could not be more wrong. All the time I spent making sure my designs looked pixel perfect on screen and in the inbox. It never really occurred to me that experience emails differently.

For example, 1 in 10 people in the UK has Dyslexia, which can cause problems with reading, writing and spelling. Another disability to take into consideration would be those who have a visual impairment such as, loss of vision or colour blindness. Did you know that there are over 350,000 people registered with a visual impairment in the UK? In addition to this, there are an estimated 6 million people with sight-threatening conditions. If your list is primarily based in the UK that means at least 10% could have some form of visual impairment.

In recent months I have become more aware of Accessibility within emails as the subject is being talked about more on social media and at conferences, such as Litmus Live and UNSPAM. From this, I have challenged myself to find and implement techniques needed to make the email experience better for those who have impairments.

I found that there is a whole project dedicated to accessibility on the internet called a11y. The purpose of this project is to make it easier for everyone to understand various disabilities and how to implement changes to make their whole experience better. This makes it a great foundation to gain an understanding of what we can add to our emails to make them better for everyone.

Currently, there are no email specific accessibility projects on the internet. However, there are a growing number of blog posts and articles about accessibility in email. By combing through these various articles and speaking with fellow Email Geeks I have collected a few tips on how to improve accessibility in your email.

1. Add role=“presentation” to your <table> tags.

If you have listened to me on the Really Good Email’s Feedback Friday YouTube Series you will know that I’m a big fan of using tables for my email design. This means that it is essential that I add this to my design. Litmus gives a great overview of this in their blog post.

The reasoning behind adding this bit of code is to tell screen readers not to read out the <table> code so your audience doesn’t have to listen to a lot of nonsense.

To hear an example of what an email sounds like with and without this fix check out this post by Email on Acid. You can also test this out this yourself with a screen reader. Popular screen readers are JAWS and Window-eyes. Windows also has its own built-in screen reader called Narrator and MacOS has VoiceOver.

2. Make sure your <img> has an alt attribute!

Sometimes text in images is an unavoidable situation. Whether it be to illustrate a design or because strict brand guidelines call for certain fonts to be used. This means that text as an image or text used in an image is a common occurrence as images are supported everywhere.

As Email developers and designers, it is our duty to make sure that our emails can be enjoyed by as many people as possible. This means that we need to make sure we use alt attributes.

Alt attributes A.K.A alt text is not only important to let listeners know what you are showing, but also to those who have images blocked. This allows us to make sure that readers and listeners still get important information from the email. If the image is purely decorative and does not provide any value to the content it is still advisable that you add an alt attribute but leave it blank. E.g. alt=“”. If you were to completely remove the alt attribute it would make the screen reader read out the link or source of the image, depending on if the image is linked or not.

Otherwise, make sure the alt attribute has context and a good description. A brilliant example can be seen below.

To build upon having good alt text, you can also style your alt text to help make your email look great even with images blocked. The good folks over at Litmus created a great write-up to help you with this.

3. Font-Size matters

Typically when I am creating an email I always aim to make it pixel perfect. This means that everything has specific values assigned to them and if they don’t display correctly in a specific email client, I can spend hours looking for a fix or an alternative way of coding said part.

One of these parts can be making sure columns stay the same height or making sure that text only fills a certain space, a button for example. Here I would use a px (pixel) value to define the font-size and the line-height it takes and define a specific width on a table that I have created as my button. For accessibility, this is a nightmare as px values on font-size and line-heights don’t adjust to the user’s settings which means that they are unable to read the important information and feel excluded or an afterthought.

To remedy this it is recommended you use rem or em as your font-size values. Rem is relative to the font-size set on the root element. Therefore if someone has their default set to 16px, which is common on most devices means that 1rem = 16px. This allows your content to scale with the user’s needs.

Email Text-Size Comparison. Penfield vs PRPS.

4. Scanability

Not only is the legibility of your email important, but the scanability is too. By giving your content a clearly defined structure using a combination of semantic elements e.g. <h1> <h2> <h3> <p> tags and using lists where possible. This allows the user to quickly identify and pick out important information. As an added bonus to using semantic elements, it allows screen readers to put the correct emphasis on important information.

Don’t forget to allow your text to have breathing room. A good starting point to find a suitable line-height is adding 4px onto your font-size, but this can vary depending on your content. Just remember to not be afraid of white space.

Another handy tip is to limit the length of your paragraphs. Being presented with a large body of text does reduce the likelihood of it been read completely. Therefore it is recommended to keep the length of paragraphs at five lines or fewer.

The combination of all these points can be seen in the example below.

Example of good scanability. The Nue co email via Really Good Emails

5. Is that GIF / Motion necessary?

To grab peoples attention it is not uncommon for marketers to use flashing GIFs on buttons or hero content. It certainly does draw attention but can be overwhelming.

It is recommended that you limit the flashing of an animated gif to a maximum of 3 times per second to meet guidelines set by WCAG (Web Content Accessibility Guidelines).

WCAG also recommends that any animation that goes on longer than 5 seconds has the ability to be paused. While this is easier said than done when it comes to email, surprisingly the Outlook 365 desktop app automatically stops gifs after a certain amount of plays. The only other way to implement this across all email clients would be to limit the number of times your gif repeats when exporting it.

6. It’s all about the contrast

When choosing colours for an email template we typically choose what looks and feels good to us and maybe a group of peers/testers. But have you considered those who don’t see colour like you? There are people who have a hard time distinguishing between Reds, Blues and Greens in varying degrees and combinations.

So what can we do to ensure that our emails communicate to those with Colour Blindness or visual impairments? The A11Y project gives a great overview of accessibility in web design in general. But the main point for email would be to ensure good contrast.

Both Litmus and Email on Acid have tools in their respective platforms to test the contrast in your email. Also in a new update to the Google Chrome browser, the native Dev Tool has a contrast ratio added to it.

Footer Contrast Comparison. Converse (Left) The Plum Guide (Right)

7. Do you speak my language?

Often overlooked, but adding in code to define the language of the content is pretty important. This allows email clients to offer translations for those who do not read the language that the email has been sent out in.

The solution to this is simple. You simply have to define the language at the start of your HTML and the email clients will do the rest.

An example is:

<html xmlns=“http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml” xmlns:v=“urn:schemas-microsoft-com:vml” xmlns:o=“urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office” lang=“en” xml:lang=“en”>

The EN can be changed for any other supported language. A full list can be found here. It is worth noting that by adding this into your email doesn’t translate text on an image. This is another argument against full image emails.

Recently it has been noted by Mark Robbins that some email clients may strip out the lang=”en” from the <html> tag. The fix he recommends is wrapping your email with the following:

<div lang=”en” role=”article” aria-label=”%%subject%%”>

<! — email content →

</div>

To break this code down. We define the language of the content with the lang=\\"en\\" attribute as we do in the <html> tag. By adding the role=\\"article\\" attribute we add a landmark for screen readers so that they can find the content easier as opposed to the role=\\"presentation\\" that hides content from screen readers. Finally, the aria-label attribute provides a title for the landmark used by screen readers.

Now it’s up to you…

I hope that these points have helped you gain an understanding of what you can do to make your emails more user-friendly to those with varying abilities and impairments.

The list above is just the tip of an iceberg to help get you started on the path to creating awesome accessible emails. Be sure to check out the a11y website and follow articles from Really Good Emails, Litmus and Email on Acid for more handy tips on how to improve your emails and take them to the next level.

Recommended Articles:

• Looking at Email Accessibility Standards by Industry
• Email Accessibility Best Practices
• Accessibility in Email Marketing: 7 Simple Tricks to Make Your Code More Accessible

Since the dumpster fire of 2020 is over, everything changes, right? Maybe it’s not that simple, but you can kick off the year by reviewing last year’s email analytics to get this year’s strategy into shape (gym membership not required).

9 Email Analytics to Keep an Eye On

1) Clickthrough Rates

One of the top email reports for every marketer is email clickthrough rate (CTR), the percentage of links clicked in an email. Your email message and design should persuade your audience to do something: visit your website, fill out a survey, make a purchase, or do a little dance.

You can take your email click reports one step further by reviewing an email’s click map or heat map. This map is a great visual to see where people are clicking (or where they aren’t clicking) in the email template. Are your subscribers loving your CTA buttons, or are they clicking on more of your plain-text links?

What about those social media icons – are those serving your audience or are those an afterthought in the footer? Use these analytics as a tool to decide what to keep, change, or get rid of in your email content.

2) Return on Investment (ROI)

The ROI of an email shows you and the higher-ups in your company the value of email marketing. This is the big picture sales number that everyone likes to see to understand what worked in an email campaign, and how much additional money it generated for the company (minus the dollar amount your company invested in the email campaign).

ROI is a crucial metric in sales, retail, e-commerce, small businesses, large corporations…everyone in the company is happy to hear these analytics.

3) Conversion Rate

An email’s conversion rate is the percentage of subscribers who clicked a link in the email and completed an action, such as filling out a form or buying a pair of shoes.

To track these conversions, you could add an integration like Google Analytics and set up a goal to track when people fill out that form on your contact page or buy those shoes.

You can also add UTM parameters – in your own email and especially when your link is included in another company’s campaign – to track your campaigns. You’ll add campaign variables, including the source (“newsletter”), medium (“email”), and name (“rge_promo”) to track where people are coming from and how they’re converting.

Ad:

4) Open Rates

The open rate is the percentage of emails your audience opens. Factors like subject line, preview text, email sender name, and the “from” email address can affect open rates. An “open” counts when someone clicks to open an email – before clicking any links – and if images are enabled.

Be mindful when you’re analyzing this metric because if a subscriber who blocks images opens the email, that open might not be included in the campaign’s open rate (but if they click links within that email, these will count in the CTR).

Digging deeper into open rates, you can review email client opens, mobile opens versus desktop opens and update your design and send strategy from there.

5) Engagement

Email engagement helps you determine how often subscribers are opening and clicking your emails. This helps all sorts of industries get the most out of their email lists, from e-commerce to retail, personal newsletters, and industry-specific updates.

Think about:

• Who’s visiting your site?
• Are shoppers using your promo codes?
• Who’s replying directly to your emails?
• How many people are clicking the header link in the email?
• Who’s signing up for a free trial?
• How many people aren’t opening or clicking?
• Why aren’t they interacting with our content?
• If there’s a large number of subscribers who aren’t very engaged with your content, then you can think about creating a re-engagement campaign to get them interested in your product or your content again.

6) Delivery Rates

Your delivery rate is just a small piece of the big picture, but it’s still an important metric to make sure people receive your message. If you notice a dip in delivery rates, there are a few things you can check:

• Sending Address – where you’re sending the email from
• From Email Address (hello@support.youraddress.com) and From Name (Really Good Emails -or- Mike at Really Good Emails)
• If you’re sending from a custom domain (preferably a subdomain, but not required), make sure you’ve authenticated that domain with your ESP and your domain provider (SPF and/or DKIM records).
• Email Sending IP – If your IP is new to sending emails, send out small batches of emails to start to build a trusty sending IP.
• Complaint Feedback Loops – when people mark your email as spam, this counts as a complaint against you as a sender, which could hurt your sending reputation

14.8% of all emails might not be delivered, getting caught in the spam folder or disappearing for some unknown reason. You can increase your deliverability rates by sending personalized, targeted emails, engaging your audience, and sending from a custom domain that’s been authenticated.

7) Bounce Rates

The bounce rate is the number of emails that couldn’t be delivered to email recipients. You’ll see two types of bounce rates in your email analytics: soft bounce and hard bounce, depending on the delivery failure reason.

A soft bounce is a temporary email delivery failure. This could be caused by a full mailbox, a busy email server, or if the mailbox isn’t set up correctly, if an ESP is trying to send too many emails at once to a single email client. A soft bounce is common when you’re sending a large volume of emails to an email client such as AOL, Yahoo, and Comcast.

If you’re seeing a high rate of soft bounced emails, try throttling an email campaign to send a smaller number of emails per hour. For example, if you’re sending 100,000 emails to a lot of AOL addresses, throttle the campaign to send 1,000 emails per hour.

A hard bounce is a permanent email delivery failure. An email could result in a hard bounce due to a bad email address, bad domain, the email address no longer exists, or an email server is blocking the email from being delivered.

The best thing is you can do with hard bounced email addresses is to remove or archive these contacts and keep your list squeaky clean.

8) Subscriber Count

Keeping an eye on your subscriber count can help you track your list growth. When your subscriber count increases, analyze why there’s an increase.

Did you add a new signup form on your website? Were you running a promotion during that month?

If your subscriber count decreases, take a minute to question what you could improve with how you’re getting subscribers in the door, and how you’re enticing them to stay.

Ask your subscribers what they love about your emails and question what they don’t love. Send an email to a select group of subscribers or ask them to reply directly to your email. Keep the line of communication open.

9) Unsubscribe Rate

The unsubscribe rate is the percentage of email recipients on your list who opt out of receiving future emails from you. A preference center can help your subscribers choose what emails they want to continue receiving if they don’t want to unsubscribe altogether. (If you use a preference center, it’s a good complement to an unsubscribe link, not a replacement.)

HubSpot mentions it’s helpful to keep an eye on the unsubscribe rate, but your subscriber engagement is more important.

Focus on who’s opening and clicking on your emails and who’s not engaging with your emails. This is an opportunity for you to re-engage inactive subscribers before they opt out.

Compare Email Analytics

Keep track of your team’s objectives and your campaign progress. If you don’t have a method to the madness like a spreadsheet or automated reporting system, this is a great time to get to it! Start fresh.

When I fell into email marketing, I inherited a hefty old spreadsheet and kept track of these analytics on a monthly basis:

• Total number of emails sent (#,###,###)
• Emails delivered (%)
• Open rates (%)
• Clickthrough rates (%)
• Opt-outs (%)

There were 3 sheets in the spreadsheet: 1) Metrics for all clients, 2) Metrics for one of the company’s largest clients (sort of a big gaming magazine published in different countries), and 3) Metrics for internal company campaigns.

This helped the company and me see how much revenue the email department (audience of one) generated each month, and if we needed to ramp up on email clients.

Keep Track of Email Analytics with a System that Works for You

Every company and every marketer will have a different goal with their email marketing. Find something that works for you.

Whatever reporting system you create, make sure it’s WELL-documented – in work tickets, an internal wiki, everywhere. If you were to call out of work tomorrow, leave your email position, or train someone, keeping an organized reporting system in place helps for a smooth transition.

When you look at all these different analytics, you can really help your company, your clients, and yourself to see what’s working, what you need to switch up and create a campaign strategy from there. Create emails that align with your goals, your message, and your audience.

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Since the dumpster fire of 2020 is over, everything changes, right? Maybe it’s not that simple, but you can kick off the year by reviewing last year’s email analytics to get this year’s strategy into shape (gym membership not required).

On Email and Coffee, host/email marketing specialist Joi Brooks and Matthew from our team chat about how to address people's well-being from a visual design perspective. Think about the evolutionary picture of humankind and provide clarity in your emails. Confusion can feel dangerous, so the key here is to create simplicity for your audience.

Joi Brooks: Hello, and welcome to Email and Coffee, where I get to geek out on everything email marketing. I'm your host Joi Brooks, and today I'm pleased to be talking with Matthew Smith.

Hey Matthew, how are you doing? Tell us a little bit about yourself. 

Matthew Smith: Yeah, it's good to be here Joi. Thanks for having me on. Yeah, my name is Matthew Smith, not Matt Smith. I'm always telling people that, that's kind of a joke with my friends. There are too many Matt Smith's out there in the world. I currently live in Greenville, South Carolina, originally from Colorado. I'm the founder of Really Good Emails and I have a really fantastic team that supports that now.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/n3uQ6JF27jE

It's a side project. All of us still have full-time jobs but we've had a lot of fun and we've continued to work on new things that we're excited to release to everybody. Yeah, I'm passionate about email. It started for me when I was head of creative on several VC backed, large SAS product startups and email, consistently, was one of the last things that people were thinking about, but I knew it was one of the most important because our customers were seeing the emails sometimes more than the product itself, the online product. I started paying attention to that, and as I did that I noticed that there were not many places where you could go and find the best of the best emails out there. I wanted to provide that. It's been a fun journey.

I've been at this for about six or seven years in email marketing and around 15 in design in general. When I'm not doing Really Good Emails, I run a company called, Bunsen, which provides design services for biotech and life sciences companies because I care about where we're heading as a human race, and that way I can keep my work really meaningful. It’s great, I'm glad to be here. 

Joi Brooks: I didn’t know about that little bit there, there’s a little bit of learning every day. Of course, this is Email and Coffee, and I'm drinking cold coffee. My little leftover from this morning. It's decaf, it's about time for decaf. What are you drinking?

Matthew Smith: You know, it's interesting that you say that about decaf. For a long time, my go-to drink period was alcohol and I gave that up four and a half years ago and then coffee became this thing. I started paying attention to what I was drinking in my coffee; getting the best beans, getting the best roast, paying attention to all of those details. Recently, I've had to switch to decaf because I have some anxiety stuff that comes up and it doesn't feel good in the body when that's going on, so I switched and. Thankfully, there are more and more good decaf roasts out there these days.

This is a Greenville roast from a company called Bridge City that has a cool mission. They do a pretty good job so I'm pretty psyched on that.

Joi Brooks: Yeah, I think it's not so bad. I had tested that myself.

Today we're going to talk a little bit about psychology. Around 1943, Abraham Maslow theorized that human nature is grounded in five core physiological needs. I'm going to share my screen to give folks an idea of what Maslow’s hierarchy looks like.

Let me just get everything in order here. Here we have the very bottom, by the way, Matthew, you can see the screen, correct?

Matthew Smith: You got it.

Joi Brooks: Good. I hate when tech things fall apart. At the very bottom, we've got the physiological, the very basic needs of food, air, water, sleep, and then you start moving up and you go into safety, where we're talking about health, security, and protection. Then, loving and belonging, where you've got family, friends, a sense of community. Esteem and respect, which are more about the ego-driven belief that you are valuable and you are deserving. Then, you finally move into the pit of home, where it's self-actualization and you fully get into your potential.

Maslow's theory can be applied to marketing and we can connect a brand with a customer and appeal to their basic needs. You've got Quaker Oats at the bottom, “it's the right thing to do”, and then Allstate with regard to safety, “you're in good hands with Allstate''. You've got Pepsi, trying to get along, “You're in the Pepsi generation”, community. You've got Royal Salute Scotch, “what the rich give to the wealthy''. Needless to say, the highest you can get, the U.S. Army, “Be all that you can be''. 

We've all heard these and we're all familiar with them. You may not have considered how they apply to Maslow’s theory, but I'm wondering Matthew, how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs applies to email marketing? And design a little bit too. Tell us a little about that. 

Matthew Smith: Actually, I give a talk called, The Mental Inbox, which deals with this a little bit. When I think about design, a lot of people think about anything visual, but for me, it's capital “D” design, which means thinking about the entire package, thinking about what is the job of the email. What is the job of the subject line or the job of the visual design or the job of the copywriting? 

The customer is hiring your email to do something for them, to solve a problem for them. Especially in our current scenario, mid-pandemic, our audiences are in a state of being where a lot of our day-to-day is down here in these bottom three categories, if not the bottom two. We're wanting to make sure that our physiological well-being and our safety well-being are taken care of. At different times, some of us have been able to move up the ladder, so to speak, or up the pyramid, but it's been a challenging time.

Emails and their content can do a lot to meet people where they are by using literary content or written content in a way that helps attune to people's challenges that they're facing, and not ignore that, not be tone-deaf to that. That's not just during the pandemic, but it also applies to some of the things that we're facing as a country, where we have incredible polarity politically. Where certain groups of people in the United States or even beyond are facing humanitarian rights issues, racism challenges, et cetera. Ways that we can meet those people and understand where our audience might be in their experience of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and then addressing those.

From a visual design perspective, one of the most important things that you can do is think about the evolutionary picture of humankind. It's important to create clarity in a situation because confusion can feel dangerous. Confusion often excites the amygdala and I think the sympathetic nervous system, so when we're in an excited state, we're trying to figure something out. If you've heard somebody get upset on a confusing phone call with customer service, that's the sympathetic nervous system getting amped up. “What do you mean? I thought it was this way. You said it was going to do this. What, now you're saying this?”. That kind of confusion really gets that going. That's an uncomfortable state.

Now, humankind can do interesting things and be very powerful within that state, but generally, that's not the state we want to address our customers in. We want to get them into their parasympathetic brain, which is their more relaxed, slower thinking brain where they can make better cognitive decisions.

You can do that using visual design by creating simplicity, clarity, by reducing the number of things that you're trying to do in an email, to their essential package, and have what I think of as a minimum viable job that this email needs to do with, potentially, some simple, secondary or tertiary things that they can do.

Most emails that we get at Really Good Emails that we reject and don't accept into our, what we call “really good”, are generally just too busy. That's one of the clearest factors. They're trying to do too much and they include too many different types of typography, colors, design elements, visual elements, et cetera, making it hard to read. It's hard to scan and understand in a short period. Those are the kinds of things that I think apply to Maslow's hierarchy of needs. 

The biggest thing though is knowing your audience. For example, if you have a significant other, who's just been in a car accident, then that's not a great time to talk to them about maybe some relational issues you're having with them or talk to them about the next vacation that you're going on. That's a time to listen to how they're feeling because they're down at the bottom of Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Knowing that about your significant other is important, but also knowing your audience so that you can attune to what they're experiencing. That's the most important thing. 

Joi Brooks: Yeah, these are difficult times and we are hitting the lowest two levels, but there is a certain amount of community also because we're all shut out of the community. There are many ways that email marketing can story tell using these methods.

The top two where you're actualizing yourself so your customer is being all that they could be with your product. That's a tough sell, but the basic three bottoms are easy, storytelling, and comfort. As you said, the design element is clean, it's clear. You don't want to confuse your customer. You don't want to put them in that exciting space because they don't know what to do and they don't belong anywhere. 

As a graphic designer, you're tasked with getting a message into a design with a CTA, and that's a call to action, within the HTML stack. Now designers don't code so they're not necessarily aware of that stack and how to address a design within the stack. As such, they might be likely to apply a brochure or a full, four-color advertisement, even a package design, and work it into an email that doesn't always work. 

How does the designer apply everything that they've learned to email marketing specifically? How do they get through the noise?

Matthew Smith: Email is a unique medium, it's different from the web, and as you're pointing out, it's different from print. I would say my experience these days is that many designers do code and/ or they have a better and better understanding of how HTML works. However, understanding how email HTML works is another unique beast particularly because of the need to meet a lot of the Outlook audience and so on and so forth. 

Email as a medium, more and more, is read in the mobile experience. That's extremely critical. When you're on mobile, then that also means that people are in a mode that is not a long-form reading mode, generally speaking. That's not always the case, certain emails can be effective for that, but generally, people are in a utility mode. They're ready to read your email and get going. Email, on the whole, is a place to summarize content and lead people toward things that appeal to them more. Whereas a brochure, for instance, a printed brochure has to cover all the ground. It has to tell you the whole story and email does not. An email can be a high-level summary of a set or an array of topics, and then give people an opportunity to move to a website, to finish checking out, to complete an action, to read more about something, those kinds of opportunities.

Then, when you're in the utility mode, again, to my point earlier, when you can be simple and effective using visual treatments like hierarchy, you help people scan to see what they're interested in more quickly. Most people can relate to visual hierarchy thinking about going to a newspaper website. You and I are old enough that we remember newspapers. You open a newspaper and you see the front headline and you know that they've created a greater hierarchy on the articles they want you to read first. You can use visual hierarchy through bolding headlines and through making your body copy slightly lighter, still accessible, and dark enough to read, but slightly lighter. You can help somebody be able to look from a high level and see what's in this email. “Oh, it wasn't point 1 or 2, but it's point 3 that I'm interested in. Okay, now I'm going to dive in”. 

Those are some of the ways that we try and think through email design, but all of that is predicated on the hope that you know your customer already. Instead of guessing at what your customer might be needing or wanting, it's appropriate, that you spend the time getting to know them through surveys, through phone calls, through analytics, and seeing what kinds of actions that they take, and then potentially, even personalizing your email to begin addressing their unique needs.

A good example that I often use is my friend Jorge was at a shop called Reverb, which was all about selling used musical instruments, and at one point they had a sales email that would go out that would talk about all of the different sales across categories that they had. Then, they started being able to pay attention to who was purchasing what, and then they segmented their audience into different groups. For example, this is a drummer, this is a guitarist, this is a flutist, whatever, and then they started sending that person hierarchically more important information that Identifies with them. Their sales went up by 12% or something like that, with only that small change. Anything that you can do to be a better listener, because, ultimately, that's what that is, right?

If you and I become friends and you are consistently talking about how important your vegetarian diet is to you and I always bring up what it's like to be a ranch hand and slaughtering cows, that's insensitive. Sensitivity aside, if I'm in a sales position, that's especially bad, I'm not attuned to what you need or what you want. So, when we can personalize better, we're mirroring, which is the psychological term, and that has the opportunity to trigger something called mirror neurons in the receiver's view.

There's never been a study on whether that happens in email marketing, but there's been plenty of studies to show that it works very well when you are communicating. It releases something called oxytocin and oxytocin is a bonding chemical. It's what is released in mothers and children, for instance, when they are talking to each other at an early age. It’s what's released in couples when they are communicating and connecting. When you can do things like that in your relationships with your customers, there's an opportunity to have some of that oxytocin flowing and create that bond and relationship with them.

Joi Brooks: Yeah, once you have all of the background elements of your email together, you've got your writer, you've got your designer, you've got the marketing team altogether, you shouldn’t forget about all that data that's coming out of the backend. The strategy should start up front where maybe your campaigns are general to start with, but you start driving your campaigns so that the data that is coming out can further segment and dig into all of the different profiles, personalities, and behaviors of all of your customers.

You know that they wear sneakers, because they've purchased sneakers, you know that they wear high heels, because they’ve purchased high heels. Odds are, you're building a profile on somebody and it's not difficult to take a moment every week to take a look at that data, with your cup of coffee, decaf or otherwise, just to see the trends, to see the stories, to see what that data is telling you. You could come up with some interesting campaigns that are off the grid. Once you start getting that data, you may not realize who your customers are. You may say, “oh, my demographic is 50-year-old men”, and then suddenly you realize, wait a minute, where are all these women coming from? They're buying stuff for their 50-year-old men so the message comes slightly different. 

Considering that you're a designer, considering all of the skills and elements, how can you distill those skills and elements into email marketing where you're trying to be the stack, you're trying to get a CTA across, but you still want to be creative? You still want to be exciting, you still want to be slightly glamorous. How do you do that?

Matthew Smith: I think the way that I work on some of these kinds of things is to set a constraint early and upfront. I like to play a game called design golf and it's basically to get the lowest point score possible. Every time you use a different font, every time you use a different color, every time you have a different visual treatment for something, that's an additional point. 

When you're in communication design, every point of difference asks the user's brain to interpret that difference, why this difference? If that difference isn't doing a job by saying, “okay, this button is different from this other one, because it's less important”, okay, that's doing a job. For example, we have a filled-in button and then we have a ghost button with just an outline. Cool, that’s doing a job. Do we need a tertiary style for a button? Probably not, it's not doing its job then. Do we have a different kind of rule or a divider? Do we have two or three of those? Why? Is that necessary? By reducing, reducing, reducing, getting down to the simplest form possible, then you're helping people to concentrate on what's the real intent and potency of the email, which is the content. 

You can fancy up a design or an email all day long, but at the end of the day, a text-based email probably is affected on its own, but figuring out how to make it better with the visuals, not more distracting with the visuals. Starting simple and then looking for a way to make the email something unique with about 5% effort. Usually, it's just doing something with an image, making an image into a GIF, using Canva, or something like that, but again, generally speaking, most of the emails that I get into my inbox that people submit are just too busy. They're too much. They've tried too hard. There are too many grid points. It's not scannable, it doesn't serve the customer. It feels like it's more about the designer or more about the business than the customer. 

The biggest thing for me is just to get simple and there are some great examples on reallygoodemails.com that you can go see that are simple and effective. That's my priority. 

Then, if you want, you can also get interesting results by being more interactive in your code. If you're further along in your email journey and you know what you're doing, you can do some really interesting things. Google recently released an email for their Nest home product that was fully interactive, where you were able to choose a different color and choose how many you want, and then select a CTA and it took you to a checkout page. That was next level. What's interesting, if you think about it from web technology, it's like, what's the big deal, this has been available on the web for ages? If we can just get rid of some of the protocols in email and adopt a unified system, AMP is problematic because of its ties to Google and so on, but it is exciting to think about where we could be going.

On the simple end, you can just make a hover state on a button, which is a nice touch. Those are the kinds of things that I recommend people do. Generally, I'd say 90% of people are doing too much. It's not about doing more, it's about doing less better.

Joi Brooks: In marketing, we do overthink everything and we look at emails in a completely different way than everyone else. I remember Jason Rodriguez had a show where he was talking to his wife and he said to his wife, “what were some of the subject lines of your emails today?”, and she said, “huh, what?”. Most people don't. Subliminally, yes, they do impact you. You'll see the subject line, you'll see the pre-header, you see it, but you're looking at the brand. It's Disney, I'm opening it. Did they catch you with the subject line? Possibly. I'm not saying that, but I'm saying it's often the brand that's getting the recognition and not the subject line.

It’s often the cleanliness of the email that drives the person to read it and interact with it, other than all of the flashing lights, the colors, and the print. You slice and dice and all of these things that you go through, it's that simple story that brings you down to the bottom that gets you to click, that gets you into the conversion mode or whatever it is.

I do think that marketing sometimes over-markets itself. They try to use all of the golden objects one after the other. “Okay, we'll do it this way, and then we'll test this”. It's almost like A/B testing sometimes, and A/B tests are a great thing, but A/B testing yourself, the depth gets you nowhere. Any tool that you overuse, anything that you overstate, any comment that's used too often, a button too often, anything; everything in moderation, even in email marketing.

Last words, Matthew, what books and what influences are you following these days?

Matthew Smith: Yeah, that's a good question. The books that I would recommend that people check out are Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. It's a really interesting book written in a comic book format actually, but it teaches you the visual language so that you can understand the role of color, the role of angle and dimension, shape and form, texture, movement, or perceived movement, to communicate what you're trying to communicate in an email or otherwise.

Then, the center of communication design is typography, so reading The Elements of Typographic Style by Robert Bringhurst, or Web Typography by Richard Rutter, either of those, are going to be effective at helping you understand how to use typography. If you can learn typographical techniques, that's going to serve you well in your design work. That's even for non-designers. I think that helps copywriters and people trying to understand how to communicate. 

In terms of influencers, these days, for me as a designer, I'm more interested in photography or architecture. There's a blog called Colossal that I enjoy following because they show me architecture, artists, photographers, and give me an insight into what's beautiful in the world. That's often the most inspiring for me. I enjoy letting the natural world inspire the work that I do. That's where I'm at these days. 

I always enjoy the Email Geeks Slack channel to hear what people are saying out there and how people are doing. This is a little bit of eating your own dog food, but anytime I'm designing an email, I'm using reallygoodemails.com. I'm glad that we have a repository of over 7,000 emails that have been curated by us to show what are good practices and what are some new things. We're always working on new ways of teaching the community what we believe are the best of the best. I’m having a lot of fun. 

Joi Brooks: Yeah, I have to admit Really Good Emails is my go-to. It's my go-to for any designer that's asking you the question of, what I should be doing? Or, if I see that they're going off the rail, I'll say, “Here's Really Good Emails” and I’ll pick out a category for them and I'll try to curate it for them. They're always very appreciative.

It’s somewhat enlightening because designers may not know about all of the email accessibility, dark mode, they may not know about the stack. It really may come to them as some sort of a light bulb in their head when they see the stack in motion. It’s not a dirty word and they understand how they can work within that medium because it may not be glamorous, but it can be very exciting when you get that conversion when you see it happen in motion. That's the point, with a print magazine, you're a designer, you designed that four-color print, and it goes in the magazine, you don't interact with it. Maybe you get the magazine, you open up and say, “look what I did”. You put it on your coffee table, you leave it open, maybe it goes on your wall, but you don't interact with it. Email is interacting the moment it gets out. It's a vehicle right into a customer's hands, snd for a lot of people that do design, they're communicating. They get to do that on an instantaneous level. It's so very interesting. 

I appreciate you being here with me today and as I said, I learned a little bit about you. How can people find you on the web? How can they interact with you?

Matthew Smith: Reallygoodemails.com is a great place to be, Twitter.com/reallygoodemail. We ran out of characters to the “S” and Twitter doesn't allow that. Then, you can also find me at Twitter.com/whale, like the animal. I'm always open to questions and just love to be as helpful as I can be.

Joi Brooks: Great Matthew. Thanks so much for being here and that's a wrap. Happy email marketing y’all. 

Matthew Smith: Thanks, everyone.

RGE sees a lot of email designs. If you remember from last year, we predicted and mapped out a few design trends that made their way into our collective inboxes, such as wiggly blogs, beige backgrounds, and more. This year is different.

RGE sees a lot of email designs. If you remember from last year, we predicted and mapped out a few design trends that made their way into our collective inboxes, such as wiggly blogs, beige backgrounds, big a** type, overlapping squares, transparent illustrations, 3D GIFs, big circular bullet points, night mode, and plant accents. 

There’s a bit of pattern recognition and confirmation bias in this research we do every year, but in 2020 we approved over 2,000 new email designs to hit reallygoodemails.com – giving us a whole gambit of submissions from plain text to brutalism to hand drawings and everything in between. As we head into 2021, there are some clear trends that we expect to take a deeper hold in email design for the next year based on the tens of thousands of emails we’ve looked at in the past 12 months. Here are the top 10 leading design trends in the pack:

1. Softer Background Colors: Late 2019 and a lot of 2020 saw a huge increase in beige backgrounds, which we believe will become even more widely used in the next year. It’s soft on the eyes, a little more organic and approachable, and still a little different than the bleached white background that most people send. We’re also expecting to see more muted and pastel backgrounds for similar reasons, and have already seen an uptick in their use over the past few months. 

Take a look at the examples here.

2. Black & White Photos: We’ve pretty much seen the death of the duotone filter since Shopify made it popular in 2015. With a few exceptions, designers have gone back to the original monochromatic way of showing off images with Black & White. This has been particularly strong with people’s faces and photoshoots.

Take a look at the examples here.

3. Photo Album Grids: Maybe it is because we spend more these days on Zoom and are served up a grid of familiar faces to stare at, but packing in more than a couple images into a tight area is becoming more of the norm. This was becoming more popular with real estate, hotels, events and fashion, but we’ve seen it being adopted by more lifestyle brands, B2B, and technology. 

Take a look at the examples here.

4. Representation: With a large focus on racial injustice in 2020, we not only believe that we’ll see more people of color represented in emails, but also people of varying abilities, ages, sexual preferences and religious backgrounds. As the world comes together to heal over such a hard year, companies will also show off their commitments made during the Black Lives Movement and other values.

Take a look at the examples here.

5. Info Cards and Call-outs: Visually these blocks break up the content, but they are used to add more context, pro-tips, or something else that aids the reader with the concept they are looking at. It reminds us of the textbooks we used to read.

Take a look at the examples here.

6. Data Regurgitation: Even more than we saw in the past few years, data being tied to individual’s profiles allows emailers to be much more targeted with their messaging. While there’s a whole thing we could write about personalization, this is a design article - which means that we’re pointing out how visualization of that data is making its way into our inbox. But on the other said of the data side, we also expect that companies will double down on using non-personalized data to grab the attention of the reader with things like end-of-year reports, aggregated ratings, customer research surveys, and beautiful graphs and pie charts. It\'s all about making that data front and center for the readers to impress them.

Take a look at the examples here.

Speaking of personalizing emails, here\'s an ad for our sponsor, Nifty Images, which RGE uses on \\"the reg\\" to bring that extra magic to our own emails. Check \'em out.

7. Long Shadows: Gone are the days that people photoshop out the shadow of a product or apply a lot of different lights to erase a shadow completely. It is much cooler now to keep it in and use it for some dramatic elements of photography.

Take a look at the examples here.

8. Going Retro: Maybe it is the good feelings that come with nostalgia, maybe it is a way to look different than other designs, but there’s been an increase in emails pulling elements from the past and updating them for their own brand or campaigns.

Take a look at the examples here.

9. Emphasis on Science: As the world looks for more fact-based claims and eyes at the advancement of technology and science, brands have been putting this into practice with scientific illustrations, graphs, and equations within the email. We can probably thank Mark Rober for making science cool again.

Take a look at the examples here.

10. Fade to Black: Dark mode (aka Night Mode for some) has rooted itself with designs as more and more operating systems allow for this feature, but this is being used to draw people in from an image down into the body copy of an email.

Take a look at the examples here.

And as if that were not enough, here are a couple predictions that aren’t trends yet, but we’ve seen some cool things with these and would love to see more of it:

• Comic Strips - we said the same thing last year, but only a few emails hit our inbox in 2020 with this style. Perhaps it is because of their all-image nature or people not feeling confident with their artistic skills, but this format is powerful in getting people to read an entire message with a story-like methodology. 
• Mixed-Media Collages - It takes a little more time to design on a computer, but this will possibly get emails to stand out more because they are not used by a lot of other brands.
• Masks & Health Reminders - a simple icon, footer, or blurb about how the company expects customers to behave when interacting in person. Similarly, steps they are taking to make people feel safe when someone touches their products.

We all know that 2020 was a crazy year for everyone. Here\'s to a more inclusive, empathetic year filled with great designs that surprise and delight readers of all kinds.

P.S. Don\'t forget to submit your own really good email. Create an account and then hit \\"Submit Email\\" to get it into the review queue.

In our most recent webinar, we delved deep into the ever-evolving world of email marketing trends for 2024 and beyond. Matt Helbig from Really Good Emails and Beefree led the discussion, which featured Justine Jordan from Beefree, Laura Sullivan from InboxMonster, and Kristy McCarley from Pure Firefly. They shared their insights on the hottest trends, the ones to watch, and how to use them effectively without losing sight of the fundamentals.

From raw and unfiltered photography to bold typography and nostalgic throwbacks, we explored how trends can help you communicate more authentically and creatively with your audience. But we didn't stop there. Our experts weighed in on balancing trends with strategy, focusing on your audience's needs and the ever-crucial basics like accessibility and meaningful content. This session is a must-watch if you've ever wondered how to navigate the fine line between trendy and effective.

Ready to elevate your email game? Dive into our recap and discover the trends that could make a real impact in your next campaign!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/iul88ibTvmc?si=0FPUkoDGjcysu5M9

Matt Helbig: Hello! Thanks for joining us today. I'm Matt Helbig, an Integrated Marketing Manager at Really Good Emails and Beefree.

We also have Justine Jordan from Beefree, Laura Sullivan from InboxMonster, and Kristy McCarley from Pure Firefly.

Justine, do you want to talk about yourself at Beefree? 

Justine Jordan: I wear a lot of hats here. I'm working with Matt and Mike Nelson, whom you might remember from RGE. I do a little bit of support, a little bit of community, a little bit of content. So it's been a fun time.

I've known Laura for ages. Inbox Monster is a great tool, right? They do rendering deliverability checks. Kristy is the founder and managing director of Pure Firefly, an agency that does email work for nonprofits and small businesses. Both are excellent companies and incredible people.

Matt Helbig: Yes, Laura and Kristy are fantastic. Let's jump right into our hot take on email trends. So, what is a trend? Trends will not save your business, and neither is anything we share today. This is you; you're panicking, and your business is failing.

Unfortunately, all these email design trends will not save your business, but they will help you better communicate your message.

Justine Jordan: I couldn't agree with this more. For my entire career, I've primarily worked in B2B. So, when I look at what all the cool retail and e-comm brands are doing, B2B doesn't have to be boring. You can adopt trends, too, but that's not to say you don't have to know what suits your audience, brand, and company. So don't adopt a trend because it's the cool thing to do. 

Matt Helbig: Focus on the foundations. Email trends come and go, but at the end of the day, the foundations are most important with your email marketing and understanding your audience.

What makes a really good email is that it is customer-centric and solves a problem that someone might have. A lot of the time, emails are very self-serving to the company. Remember that people on the other end are not just a dollar sign. They are people as well.

Another important point is that the email clearly states what you are making, why, and who it's for. It's important to communicate your message.

Justine, you're a big fan of this one; use human language, not corporate gobbledygook.

Justine Jordan: If we can have synergies that we leverage for the ultimate game changing... What am I even saying? Talk like a human. Don't talk like a corporate jargon generator.

Matt Helbig: Another point is that this email is delightful and surprising. You look forward to receiving it in your inbox. It's not just another annoyance, another filtered spam email. Send emails with a purpose. Consider how you can improve this person's day or surprise them in the inbox.

Accessibility is always a big thing when creating really good emails. We see many all-image emails; examples in this slide deck will be all-image. But you want to meet your readers where they are.

Suppose they're on a mobile device or have a disability and can't access your email temporarily or all the time; this is way beyond including something like alt text. In that case, it's ensuring your email is available on all devices they might be reading on.

Treat the inbox as a sacred, personal, and safe place. You should be responsible for what you send to your audience in this place.

We can jump in to see the trends. But first, we have to go back in time. We've been looking at trends for a minute since 2016, and many of these trends we're still seeing are still very relevant today. People still think they're hot, new, and fresh, but we've been tracking them in 2016 and 2017. Let's keep that in mind. Many businesses still need help to meet different standards and have many issues with design. It's always interesting that some of these trends are old but still relevant today.

We will jump into the 2024 trends and beyond, as we still see many of these sticking around.

First off, raw and unfiltered.

Kristy McCarley: I am a huge fan of raw and unfiltered photography. As an amateur photographer, I'm always excited to see this trend continue to gain momentum. It's about capturing images in their raw, unfiltered, most natural state with minimal editing or retouching.

Unlike traditional stock photos or marketing images, which are often very produced, very stylized, very polished, raw, and unfiltered, they embrace imperfection, which is why I like this style and this trend. It shows real people and natural environments, and it captures genuine moments.

It's often characterized by natural lighting, minimal post-production editing, and authentic expressions and scenarios, making it feel spontaneous and candid.

Why is this trend becoming so popular? It's mainly due to social media. We're very used to seeing what at least appears to be authentic situations. Consumers demand more transparency from brands, and we are skeptical of overly polished images or images that we may feel are too photoshopped.

We tend to gravitate towards content that feels more relatable and relevant. Raw photography can connect in a human way that AI can't, making the messages more trustworthy.

Another plus of raw and unfiltered is that it can evoke a sense of nostalgia. It can also help strengthen your connection with your audience.

Finally, it can be very cost-effective. You don't have to pay for the big production, the expensive photographer, or all the editing. This style can be cost-effective for those trying to get the highest return on investment from their marketing. It can be quicker to produce and quicker to edit. If you do any editing, it allows for more agile content creation.

Justine Jordan: I also love it cause it's human. I already expressed my love for humanity earlier. The Patagonia example is such a good one. Who can't relate to the messy backseat of your car with the dog and like the indestructible bag? It just feels like more legit. It doesn't feel like you're being sold to.

Laura Sullivan: Exactly. I love this because if you're an email creative, the big photo shoot often does not happen for your channel. So you're just getting seconds from other channels, and this is something that you can do. You can pull it off.

Kristy McCarley: Even as an amateur photographer, you want it to feel authentic and genuine, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of production, like making sure that the eyes are looking in the right direction or that the shirt is placed in the right place—position to ensure your logo shows. So you can go only some of the way into total production. There's nothing wrong with planning a few photos and picking the one with the best lighting to represent your brand.

Matt Helbig: Why is this catching on? This trend feels anti-AI and feels more nostalgic and different. It stands out.

We'll keep moving on to extra chunky text, one of my favorite trends.

Kristy McCarley: Yeah. I'm a fan of this one, too. Oversized text dominates the visual space. If you're a design geek, this can be super fun to experiment with. It adds a sense of playfulness and grabs attention when the email is opened. It makes the text a primary visual element.

This trend is popular because of the rise in appreciation for minimalism and the need to create quick, digestible content. It allows you to convey that message as soon as you open the email, and it feels very powerful. You can concisely convey your message and grab your attention so that you don't swipe and go to the following email.

One consideration if you're deciding whether to experiment with this or if it is suitable for your brand is that you want it to be manageable. There is a balance between the size of the text and its chunkiness, and you want to maintain readability. You also don't want it to feel overwhelming or heavy or you have to scroll to see all the texts.

It's best for short, punchy headlines, compelling quotes that reinforce the brand, a brief mission statement, or if you're trying to convey an urgent promotion or something time-sensitive.

Justine Jordan: I've even seen some brands hire a typography designer to create a brand-specific font for these cases. It's a fun expression of your brand and something unusual and differentiating you can do. You don't want the whole email to be in your custom font, but it can be a real standout in the inbox for those like selected applications.

Matt Helbig: We have a little sub-trend here called weird fonts. Many brands use weirder fonts to capture people's attention in the inbox. These trends are not for every brand. In your B2B email, you can use a different font, but in e-commerce, many people try to stand out by using fun and cool fonts.

We have one other relevant subtrend: 3D text. It's been popular in the last couple of months, so we're seeing many more brands use 3D and make that text pop out on the screen. So I'm a big fan of this one.

Kristy McCarley: Yeah, me too. It makes it stand out and fun. It just makes it feel so playful and, again, relatable. It's not for everyone or every brand but makes a statement.

Matt Helbig: As the chat says, this is not supported as a font. These are locked-up images. Keep that in mind when thinking about your accessibility, but some of these do a good job of balancing a little bit more live text with that hero image being just an image. 

Justine Jordan: 100%. You have to think of trends and best practices as a bit of a spectrum just because we've been instructed, and I've even been a big advocate of live text and email. It's an important accessibility thing. It's important for many reasons, but we can't follow extremes, right? Just because something is a best practice. You can always have a balance.

I'll always use luxury brands as an example. If you're trying to sell expensive jewelry, you must show pictures. You're going to have to use images. That's a really impressive purchase. 

For the B2B folks in the room, I'm not saying you can't do it. B2B doesn't have to be boring. You can use exciting fonts. Befree is a B2B brand. We market to many businesses, but because we're more design-forward, we can have some fun with our B2B product images. You have to know your audience and what's appropriate for you, but think of something as something other than all or nothing.

Matt Helbig: Why is this catching on? They're bold. They stand out in the inbox. They're thick. They get your message across quickly. People scan your emails. They only sometimes read the whole thing.

All right, we'll keep moving on to deep and dark.

Laura Sullivan: I love this trend, which may have been sparked or spurred by dark mode and its prevalence. We've moved way beyond that now. I love the spectrum of dark colors brands use to create this mood in their emails instantly. This trend is a reaction to so many pretty and pastel emails. I love this dark green example, which makes sense with the subject matter. God, look how beautiful this slide is.

But my cautionary tale is that I've worked with brands before and tried to pull this off one in particular, which was like a dark chocolate brown. And, of course, I tested the heck out of it beforehand. The brown turned into salmon pink for the few email clients with some partial color inversion. And it was like, ah, my eyes. You've got to test, test, test. When you do this, you want to avoid accidentally serving the audience wanting dark mode, something that's way outside your brand guidelines. Test away. This trend is a total winner. 

Matt Helbig: It is cool that brands are also building out dark mode styling, but this dark theme becomes relevant around Black Friday. Many brands adopt this darker theme, change their style slightly, and make it feel unique in the inbox. And yeah, as people say, the contrast makes the images pop.

Laura Sullivan: I think of Jenny's ice cream as this bright, colorful brand, but for this particular topic and this flavor that they're calling out, they're using this dark maple color. Many brands can use this depending on your email's subject and content. 

Matt Helbig: Why is it catching on? There's a rise in dark mode preference opt-in. And then again, a reaction to that over pastel use that we've seen in the past.

All right, we got color blocking with Justine.

Justine Jordan: Color blocking is what it says on the label. These big, bold areas of color usually help differentiate visual hierarchy and emails or, in this case, help a section stand out. 

Looking at the history of color blocking, you will see that it was a big fashion trend in the 1960s. It feels retro like all these fashion trends are coming back and sneaking into the email world. However, I love how it creates this visual hierarchy. It helps separate sections of the email and adds a bold look to your style.

These three initial examples take very boxy approaches, so you can still block color without being so rectangular. I love the chocolate lovers one, where there's a little texture, but it's still this lovely flood of brown on the back. It's almost combining trends; you have these bold, darker colors and color blocking.

Some also have wavy or other slanted elements. That's still a subtrend where you're visually blocking the email. One reason this has been so popular is that ESPs are making it easy these days.

Over the last several months, I may have purchased an item or two of clothing with big, bold, complementary-color strikes on it. It's so much fun.

Matt Helbig: I'm a fan of this one. Wave has been overused too much. Every single email has a wave in it. There's a time and place to use it, and it does a great job of separating sections. Be careful with your wave. You don't want to give people seasickness. 

Justine Jordan: What if we do the wave?

Matt Helbig: As Justine said, ESP content blocks are making it easier to separate these sections while this is catching on.

Justine Jordan: Editors like Befree make it easy to plug in that new content and create new blocks.

Matt Helbig: Alright, we have another one. Longing for dial-up as a trend with Justine. 

Justine Jordan: I don't know how many of you are elder millennials, but Laura and I were talking about when we were kids, how we would grab the phone in our parent's kitchen and sneak around the corner and try to stretch that wire out as long as you could to get some privacy. Probably dating myself, but it's all making a comeback.

Or this one—what's this? \\\"Call now\\\" is a CTA in an email with this ridiculous gradient. That could be word art. I used word art, but this one takes word art to a new level and combines some super-like old-school nostalgia with a cassette tape. Again, like I had a cassette tape player in my first car, not showing my age here at all. That was in a recent Really Good Emails newsletter, the dancing baby GIFs.

It's like I got into a time machine, but not a hot tub time machine. There are many examples of this, and even some friends in the email industry, like Action Rocket's newsletter and the folks over at Sinch in their Email Camp, are having some fun with the Transformers throwback old school all the way. This is all about like the nineties being cool again.

I have attended many concerts this summer with nineties bands coming out and playing. I saw a Green Day show, and they played the entirety of Dookie because it was Dookie's, I think, 25th or 30th anniversary of being released. So, if that doesn't make you feel old, these emails certainly will.

Matt Helbig: It's a fun and nostalgic trend. I'm getting disposable camera vibes. I see it coming from the web more into email, and it's cool to see. But again, this is only for some brands. You have to know your audience and style, and then try some of this stuff and see if it works.

Laura Sullivan: I'm thinking about this with our brand as a company and saying, okay, maybe our monster, our little monster friend, would use some of these nostalgic nineties moves, but probably not our main brand, so it's finding a way to work it in, but don't do anything that feels wrong.

Justine Jordan: From all the concerts I've attended this summer, we can learn about email. They knew their audience. They knew that we were willing to pay to see them again. I was joking that night; I felt like I was 18 again the following day—maybe not so much, but I was willing to relive 18 for an evening. So, if you've got that demographic, take advantage of it.

Matt Helbig: You said the 90s are cool again, so that's why this trend is coming back around.

We have another newer one, ticker GIFs, a fun trend to watch out for. 

Kristy McCarley: It is a fun trend. So ticker GIF, the repeating text, usually at the top of the email, grabs attention and makes the email feel lively and energetic with the movement. Similar to chunky text, it captures your attention right away. It's like a visual hook and immediately engages the reader with the motion and the excitement. It can add playfulness, similar to the chunky text, and it's eye-catching.

I'm on the fence with ticker text because I'm a person who is affected by movement in emails. So sometimes, if it's a little too fast or if it feels like it's too much, I will look away. But I know some other subscribers and audiences love and get into it. So I'm on the fence. Be very thoughtful about its use. Make sure you have enough contrast. If you're using it to highlight a key message, it can be great, or a sense of urgency for a promotion or limit time offer. Be aware that it can overwhelm some subscribers and may be distracting, and sometimes, there are better fits for the campaign. Consider the pros and cons.

Matt Helbig: I agree. This one can get overused quickly. This is my inbox in 2024, so you must be careful about how many trends you use. If it makes sense for your brand and grabs people's attention, it's good. It doesn't always need to communicate the main message of the email.

But as people say, there are new tools to make GIFs easier. If your brand works well with this, add it to the top of your email.

All right. We have another fun one here—a styled letter with Laura.

Laura Sullivan: This is blasphemy with a whole room full of people who love gorgeous emails, and I am definitely among them, but I noticed this trend. Even though you may have great imagery if you're a direct-to-consumer or big B2C brand, you should lead with text and a human voice instead of a product shot. I'm seeing this a lot.

You can style your text to make it scannable, highlighting certain things and bulleting things out. This will keep it easy to read, which is important because people dislike reading.

Leading with that human voice, it's the anti-AI that we were talking about before their spidey sense is up for things that aren't authentic, real, and in a human voice.

These are all great and well written and come from a human, like this one about the love connection between Beefree and Really Good Emails, which Justine writes in her voice. When I read it, I could hear her writing it.

Matt Helbig: This styled letter text is a good balance between using only plain text in your email and styling it, using some of your brand fonts and colors, and making it feel more personalized.

It makes it stand out. I like this one because it's a relatively low effort. You don't always need a designer to do something like this, but it's nice. You have a good plain text template. You can create this style letter, make things stand out, and use bullet points. That's a good balance between plain text and an evolution that resembles a text-type email.

Laura Sullivan: I love how you guys added a GIF here. Even though it is a style letter, it has a little moment of fun that keeps you going as you read it. That's in a great human voice.

I wanted to shut out Parcel here because they are the masters of this. And, of course, they create cool emails all the time. Here's an example of how they spent a lot of time and resources developing this interactive game. But then, if you flip to the next slide, there are other emails with great information they send from a human; they're just straight-up emails.

Naomi has tested, maybe not this particular one, but designed emails versus undesigned emails. This is challenging to swallow if you like pouring every detail into creating beautiful emails. Still, sometimes, in some situations, you need to get the information out there and show the humanity behind what you're doing.

Matt Helbig: Think of email almost as a tool belt. You can use a plain text email. You can use a well-designed email. It doesn't have to be one or the other. For the problem you're trying to solve, you can use these different types of sends and include various types of content to make your email stand out and get the job done.

Justine Jordan: And for the B2B folks in the room, this is a great example of how you can have a ton of fun. The first personal example had a bit of nostalgia, chunky font, and a whole bunch of these trends. Then, it's followed up with simple, plain text like email. So you have the best of both worlds.

Kristy McCarley: Yeah, the same goes for B2B. There, you give yourself options. You may not be able to use chunky text or much animation, but you see, you have so many different options that you can tiptoe into design. If your audience isn't ready for the full-blown 3D chunky text, you can use a little bit of the style letter format, maybe one small animation. You can experiment with it and see how your audience responds to it.

Matt Helbig: Why is it catching on? It's that human language and that little lower barrier of entry to email design. You don't need that whole team. You can do something on your own.

All right. We got my section with some fun development stuff. So we got some hover effects.

We are seeing brands do some cool, fun hover effects in emails. This DoorDash example stood out to me: hover effects over the stars on this rating in a receipt. It's a cool little touch that, on desktop, where it's supported, hopefully makes people engage with that section a little more.

We are big fans of Hims and Hers. The brand has some great email developers. We've interviewed them, and they add a really good, effective hover effect to CTAs. To me, all buttons should have some hover effect. Again, maybe it's not supported on all the apps or mobile devices, but it's a good indicator that something is clickable with opacity or changing the style. It's a good way to tell people that something's clickable.

We saw this cool one from Macpaw, and I was like, okay, how do they do this one? It is an interactive email, but it's all done with hover effects, which stood out to me.

So, we're breaking this one down more. It's divided into three different sections here on desktop. When you hover over each section, the images swap out. I'm in the weeds regarding code, but seeing that happen is cool. And an unexpected little piece in the inbox that I was surprised by.

Why is it catching on? It's interactive. It catches your eye when you're scrolling, especially on a desktop environment where it's supported. Some of these, especially hover effects, are little things you can add at the end of the email that may not change the whole design, but they show that you are spending time and attention on your email designs and marketing.

Laura Sullivan: I love the example you showed. It works perfectly well as a static image for a fallback. No problem. It still gets the point across, but it's just an enhancement, an added fun element. So that's brilliant. 

Matt Helbig: All right. We got some honorable mentions now. These are trends that may be partial trends, but there are still some cool ones that are worth mentioning. 

This first one is hand models. Does anyone have any thoughts on hand models?

Laura Sullivan: I love this. I used to always talk to people about the disembodied hand or the disembodied head and like trying to get it out of design, but I love going and leaning right into it and having it poke out of the inbox.

Justine Jordan: You took the words right out of my mouth. It feels so like stock, but I love it when you can take something we used to like side-eye, embrace it, and have fun with it. Reown it. The key here is to avoid one of those creepy stock photo hand situations. Do your photography here. 

I like the one. Is it the Buoy where they're holding the container from the top?

Matt Helbig: Who are these people behind these hands? I'll never know, but this trend is great. This trend will stick around because people put a product in someone's hand and take a photo of it when in doubt. People use a fun, creative method of incorporating it into the email to separate these sections.

Okay, we got to stop looking at hands.

All right, choose your adventure. This one—it's a throwback—is not very accessible. There was a big push with interactive emails saying, \\\"Okay, if you click this button, we'll show you this type of content.\\\"

However, some of these brands are returning to a big image. They're trendy on the site, so if you're going into an email, you can follow along when you're scrolling and do this little mini-quiz. It's a big trend. We're seeing a lot more brands adopt this one.

Kristy McCarley: It makes you think and can hold your attention for a few minutes. It may increase engagement.

Justine Jordan: I love it. It makes it even more fun if interactivity, like the difficult coding thing, isn't an option for you. This can be a fun way to make your email feel interactive without having to do complicated coding gymnastics.

Matt Helbig: We got another newer trend I've been seeing a lot, and I'm a fan of it. I call it the 3D rotation. I was imagining a shoe rotating or sunglasses rotating. So this one is a GIF-heavy type of thing. The fallback may be the static image, but it's a cool way to stand out in the inbox and catch my attention more. I could see people overusing this one, but the 3D rotation is cool for some products.

Laura Sullivan: I saw one example, Matt, where it was a hover state. So when you hovered over the product, it started triggering that, which was cool. 

Kristy McCarley: Yeah, I like these better than the ticker text. I don't know; they don't feel as fast. It's the right speed. It doesn't feel as overwhelming.

Matt Helbig: It allows you to see the whole product, too, depending on what you're using, which could be helpful.

All right. This last trend that we've been seeing is sustainability.

Some of these are more Earth Day-type emails. Still, we have seen a trend with brands including messaging in their promotional emails or onboarding to let people know what they're doing for the environment and their mission statement.

It's becoming important for many more consumers to understand what a brand stands for, and email can be an excellent way to communicate that.

Justine Jordan: Totally. This started even during the pandemic when brands wanted to communicate their values to their audience because we had to make many hard decisions about where we spend our time our money and what companies we want to invest in. Everyone suddenly reexamined what was important to them and their values.

I've worked for a company that got B Corp certified, and it takes work. You have to jump through some hoops and demonstrate your commitment. I love when brands not only say that they're sustainable or eco-friendly or whatever, but they also put in the effort to get the B Corp certification, stand for their values, and show them.

Laura Sullivan: Putting it in the hero differs from a bit of the standard sign-off in the footer. I love that.

Matt Helbig: That about wraps up the trends for 2024.

I'm sure we missed some, and you'll let us know if we missed any, but these are the ones that we're seeing on Really Good Emails. They're all interesting to try out. They might be somewhat hot ones you want to use for your brand, but at least you're informed about what other brands are doing in the space, and one of them will work for you.

And again, this is not an endorsement.

It might not be for your brand, but it's still cool to see.

With all the email trends, make sure whatever you do, continue to be really good and make some really good-looking emails.

Justine Jordan: So, if you're wondering how to build some of these things. Surprise, surprise, Beefree can be a giant help. This is a cool little like GIF. It's right on our homepage. It shows how easy it is to drag in different blocks and implement some of these trends or designs if you want to. RGE also has tons of inspiration, so we make it easier to go from being inspired by all these emails to creating them, that path to inspiration to creation.

Matt Helbig: Now we have some time for Q&A. There's a lot of questions.

Let's see. The first one is: Do you recommend any online courses for improving your email design skills?

Justine Jordan: Jason Rodriguez, a former colleague, has a great course called The Better Email.

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I know, Parcel. We've mentioned them before, but they also have a lot of good resources on their site regarding HTML coding.

Here is one: Is the CTA above the fold still relevant?

Laura Sullivan: Having tested it a lot, I can tell you that if the content in your email is really good, people will scroll and click on your CTA.

No matter where it is. No, that depends on a lot of things and having great content. Even in some cases, I've seen that people are more informed when they get to the CTA, which increases their qualifications for whatever you're trying to get them to do. So that's my two cents.

Kristy McCarley: It hinges on whether the content is relevant to the audience. We have seen many emails with irrelevant content, so it doesn't matter where you put the call to action. But if the content is what people want to read, learn more about, and are ready to act, they will scroll to the buy now, RSVP, or save my spot, whatever it is.

Matt Helbig: It helps if it's above the fold, but at the end of the day, it's about limiting the number of CTAs you include in the email and what you ask people. Trying to be concise about what next step you want them to take and having that be a clear CTA is more important than the placement.

If anything, a bottom CTA is more relevant. So, when they get to the bottom of a scroll, they have a catch-all CTA that they feel comfortable clicking on.

Our next question is: How do you create a hover effect in Beefree? Justine, I'll let you speak on that one.

Justine Jordan: Yeah. Beefree is a drag-and-drop WYSIWYG editor. Almost everything is no code, which is awesome until you want to code. So, we have an HTML block you can drag into your email. You need to create that code on your own, then use the HTML block, and be free to drop that code inside your email. So, it's possible.

Matt Helbig: All right. I knew this one would be around, too, because we love nonprofits and love to talk about them. Can you provide some examples or tips for nonprofits regarding creativity?

Kristy McCarley: I like the color blocking. It is one way to tiptoe into design, adding more design. You don't have to use color blocking with the rounded corners. You could start with the rectangular ones, which are safer. You could start by using shades of gray, white, or blue, which would be an excellent way to experiment. It depends on the content. If you're having a conference for a nonprofit, you could push the boundaries a bit more. You may have larger text because it's a conference, and you're trying to establish that human connection because you want people to attend.

It depends on the content, some other trends, and how they match what you're trying to convey.

Matt Helbig: If you look at Really Good Emails under our nonprofit category, there are still many good examples of brands like Charity Water using these trends or branded styles to make their emails stand out in the inbox.

So, there is some inspiration you can take from some of these, and hopefully, you can try them out.

Kristy McCarley: Raw, unfiltered photography conveys authenticity, which goes a long way with nonprofits. Again, raw photography is a great way to convey authentic, genuine moments and real people and establish trust between subscribers and the organization.

Laura Sullivan: I love Kiva.org. It is a nonprofit, like a micro-lending company, and it uses photography to show the impact beautifully. It is that raw photography.

Matt Helbig: Speaking of raw photography, we have a question about how you use B2B with raw and unfiltered. I've seen some cool software commercials about how your product solves that person's problem.

It could be a video, a short clip, or something. It could be something that lives more on social media or that you can use on other channels; it's like someone is late to their meeting, and your software service is helping them. There's a fun way to incorporate more raw and unfiltered trends while keeping B2B relevant.

Justine Jordan: Totally. Not all B2B brands need to sound corporate. Even though you're selling to businesses, you're selling to humans inside those businesses who want to connect with other people again.

I spent most of my career working in B2B and did a lot of testing around this, too. We'll put images with staff humans in our emails versus images, like screenshots of products or something. And the humans almost always do better.

So you can take that video with B2B, which has also become trendy on social media and LinkedIn, like founders or employees getting on and showing people their humanity. You can have some fun with the human trend, especially the raw and unfiltered, by introducing humans in their raw and unfiltered state without being scripted. Making mistakes is one interpretation of raw and unfiltered.

Matt Helbig: All right. Regarding the B2B SaaS landscape, do you have any subject line tips?

I know we didn't really talk about subject lines that much, but this person's question is: Are there any trendy buzzword types versus maybe more value props?

Many of the emails we've seen have subject lines that are either really short or long. We analyze less with Really Good Emails and subject lines, which is something we can do in the future.

It's about keeping it short and creating some mystery or anticipation around that or just being clear in your subject line so that someone is not surprised when they open. My biggest thing is opening an email or message and finding something different. Sometimes, it can rub me the wrong way, and I'll probably unsubscribe.

Laura Sullivan: Oh, I was going to say that we've changed our strategy with subject lines and preheaders, too, with Apple's release of the AI preview text. So we can't use mystery anymore because it will be given away. We had to change up our strategy as a SaaS company.

Justine Jordan: If you're looking at open rates, remember that open rates are a pretty unreliable metric. Render rates drive open rates, turning that single GIF on. Many ESPs will try to do real opens and filter around that.

But if you are relying just on open rates to determine subject line effectiveness, I suggest looking at click rates or even.

I've done a lot of A-B testing with subject lines. If you tease something further down in the email in the subject line, you can sometimes correlate whether or not the subject line affects people clicking through to that specific part of the email, which is fun. There is lots of testing there but beware of the open rate and your success metric.

Kristy McCarley: We are always also cautious. I always lean towards short; short is better if it's concise and to the point.

It can sometimes be frustrating when an email comes through with a subject line so long that on my phone, I can't read it all because it truncates, and that could affect your open rates.

So, I always lean more towards shorter, which is better, more concise, and gets to the point again.

As Matt says, you want to establish that trust, so you don't want to say you'll win 10,000 and then open the email and not win 10,000. It's something different. You also want to avoid tricking people into opening, but shorter is better.

Matt Helbig: Here's a really good one for you, Kristy, around desktop or mobile. Is there one that you're designing first more often? Are you seeing that split now where some industries are going more mobile-first versus a 50/50 desktop and mobile? How do you start with your client's designs?

Kristy McCarley: Usually, we start with desktop, honestly, but for our clients, our audiences are typically 50/50, 40/60 sometimes.

We usually start on desktop, but our audience is smaller businesses and nonprofits. I don't know how that translates to other larger businesses.

Matt Helbig: Mobile is a topic we monitor for the emails we feature on Really Good Emails. It's usually when the text gets too small, and mobile is the knock to where something scales down. It's a locked-up image, and someone can't read it. Designing something at least legible on mobile is a step even above other brands.

This one is around image size for GIFs and not compromising quality.

I have used EasyGIF, a cool tool I like to use. Limiting the number of frame rates within a GIF may help with compression. I usually hit under at least one megabyte on those GIFs. We often see graphics that only have three different frames, but you can do something with one or two or even one to five frames and keep that size down.

Here's another good one for Laura. Do you have any tips around dark mode? Are there any guides?

Laura Sullivan: Yes, there are many tips. You can optimize your emails for dark mode by using PNG to outline your logo. If you have any white text, you can even have fun with those things, like making your logo glow if it makes sense for your brand or doing other fun things. So there's those tips.

But then you can also target dark mode. This doesn't work for every single email client, but you can also serve up a custom email version for dark mode specifically, knowing that 40 percent plus, at least, of emails are being seen in dark mode views these days. That's a big percentage of your audience that you wouldn't want to leave high and dry.

Testing the heck out of it is going to be important. Our tool does a great job of showing the dark mode and light mode views side by side, but if you have an email that is not showing up in the way that you want for whatever reason, having some custom code in there to target and create a special version of your email is going to be important. It's worth it. It's worth the effort.

Matt Helbig: When the dark mode was first announced, some people thought many wouldn't opt in or be less than 5 percent of our list. But it is something to remember if you're forcing your colors and not allowing someone to have a dark mode style, overriding them somehow. It does go against what they're expecting in the inbox.

If I opt for dark mode, I like to see when brands take the time to tweak their design system and use some dark mode styling to meet the expectations of the person you're emailing. When I get an email that looks cool and dark, I'm like, wow, they spent the time to do it. It stands out to me, but it does take some time and effort, and it might not be the priority for your brand specifically.

Laura Sullivan: I love what you said in your design system because if you could optimize for it up front and not every single time you create something, you'd save your sanity.

Matt Helbig: We have two more questions that I was reading and would like to address.

Do any of the trends that we saw today will impact email deliverability? 

Laura Sullivan: Deliverability is so complex, and so much goes into it for your audience. The number one way to positively impact your deliverability is to have the most engaging emails and send them to the right people. In some ways, it's good news. Suppose you're using some of these ideas, creating super engaging emails, and putting some love into the channel, which is the number one thing you can do for deliverability. Still, you have to use caution, especially if you're sending to a new audience or of a new IP or doing something out of the ordinary to ensure that you are monitoring your deliverability and not doing anything that surprises the mailbox providers. They love consistency. So, trying new things can be scary. So, keep tabs on that.

Justine Jordan: Some enduring myths about spam filtering and deliverability still seem to exist in the email industry. We've probably been hearing them for our lifetimes. Some of those are that, like any image in an email, we can go to the spam filter or that there are certain words like \\\"free\\\" that you can't put in a subject line.

Most deliverability problems are infrastructure or permission-related, meaning there's usually a data problem. You're sending it to people who still need to opt in. If you're in B2B, your sales team sends cold emails from your primary domain, and people are marking those as spam. It's affecting your marketing emails. There's something else going on there. It's typically not a trigger word or too many images.

Laura Sullivan: Absolutely. The mailbox providers have become so much more sophisticated on their end. Are they scanning imagery to make sure there isn't nefarious content in the imagery? Absolutely. That shouldn't stop you if you're a great sender. So yeah, most of the problems are either something with the way your data and your infrastructure are set up or you're sending to either an opted-in audience or not an engaged audience. That's the thing that you could concentrate on.

Justine Jordan: Thank you for validating my suspicion. I appreciate it. Maybe the next webinar will be a myth-busting webinar where we get on and shoot down all the persistent myths that will not disappear. So email is slow to evolve, but it does evolve.

Matt Helbig: All right. This is our last question. How important is it to know HTML to be an email marketer? 

Justine Jordan: Oh, that is such a great question. Fifteen years ago, before, like WYSIWYG, tools, and drag-and-drop, editors got much better than they would have been. It is critical, but as email has become more sophisticated, there are more expectations, right? If you're in B2B, knowing the life cycle, like the strategy, is more important.

If you are in e-comm or retail, you need to know how to handle things like reactivation or card abandonment, or, again, if you are considering focusing more on the performance of the email channel.

Now, there are some brands. I always think of Megan at Email and Acid, who can be considered an expert in HTML development. Otherwise, if you know enough, you can troubleshoot a particular thing. While it's helpful to be familiar with HTML, it's only as necessary as it used to be if you want to specialize in that as a career path. 

Kristy McCarley: You can be a good email marketer, but to be a great one, you should be familiar with it. You don't have to be like an HTML developer, the best one on the planet. You know it inside and out, but I think it helps that I go into the code, look at it, and say, \\\"Oh, I need to change the padding or whatever it is.\\\" And I know how to do that, or I can Google it quickly and figure out how. You can be good, but it's worth learning the basics if you want to be great.

Justine Jordan: Totally. That way, if you open an HTML file, you can at least know what you're looking at. 

Matt Helbig: I know enough to be dangerous. At Really Good Emails, there is code behind every email we feature. I started doing that on Really Good Emails because seeing how things are made is fun.

You see an image of a screenshot. And that's only sometimes a good representation of what that email is like with dynamic content and interactivity. There are a lot of things happening in that email that you might not see just from that screenshot. Diving into the code, learning how the sausage is made, and understanding what is possible with an email is a great way to work with other team members.

So when you go to a developer, you go to a designer and have an idea of what's possible on that platform and what's supported. You don't have to know every CSS selector known to man, but knowing what's important in the email space and how to make yourself stand out is relevant to me. 

Justine Jordan: I'm just having too much fun. I don't want to say goodbye to you all. In the chat, Emily talked about how email alone is very lonely. I cannot relate to that sentiment more because I was the only person doing email design when I started my career. It was before the internet became this wonderful place where you could meet strangers that you like online.

That's why we started Unspam, so you don't have to feel alone anymore. That's why we have a Single Slice and webinars like this. We hope that we can make you feel less lonely and that you are never alone.

You have so many friends; if you are not email geek Slack, I recommend checking that out. For example, questions like \\\"How do I get better at email design?\\\" or \\\"How do I get better at HTML?\\\" and related resources are all over the place. If you identify as a woman, check out Women of Email, a Facebook group. So those are both two amazing places where you can feel less lonely. And, of course, Unspam. That's in person, though. So join us. We'll have 2025 dates soon.

Matt Helbig: We're not that scary. We're pretty accessible. We're totally nerds about email, and we love talking about it. So, hit us up.

Thank you all again for joining the chat and for our amazing panelists. I had a great time discussing these trends.

Do you have any plugs here at the end? Do you have any other shout-outs you'd like to give?

Laura Sullivan: Inbox Monster is a great tool for creative rendering. You should test your emails constantly and see how they appear in modern inboxes. So, in addition to deliverability, we also have some great creative tools. That's my shameless plug.

Kristy McCarley: If you have a small business or nonprofit, we are a full-service email marketing agency, and we'd love to support you.

Justine Jordan: Thank you so much for joining us. This was so much fun.

Matt Helbig: All right. Have a great rest of your week.

Laura Sullivan: Thanks again.

Justine Jordan: Thank you.

Kristy McCarley: Bye.

Discover the latest email marketing trends, tips, and strategies to engage your audience and elevate your campaigns, featuring insights from industry experts.

For data-driven marketers to learn how to navigate CRM systems in order to successfully segment, trigger, and personalize campaigns.

Data-driven email marketing begins with a reliable CRM system. But when it comes to how a CRM is built, customized, and maintained, marketers often don’t know what to ask for. This workshop is designed to teach email marketers and data-driven marketers how to navigate CRM systems so that they can have access to the data they need to successfully segment, trigger, and personalize their email campaigns.

You’ll learn how to:

\xb7 Understand CRM fields in terms of their purpose and your marketing goals

\xb7 Ask for integrations to make CRM the single source of truth

\xb7 Use CRM data to trigger automated marketing campaigns

\xb7 Easily prove the ROI of marketing campaigns

Who should come?

Email marketers, data-driven marketers, B2B marketers

Who should maybe skip this one?

Designers, copywriters, email newbies

Natalie Jackson is the Marketing Director for the emfluence Marketing Platform and for emfluence\'s Digital Marketing. She has nearly a decade of experience in B2B marketing and in digital marketing, including more than eight years of geeking out over all things email and marketing automation strategy. Natalie has spoken on email marketing, CRM strategy, and content marketing for storytellers at Digital Summit Kansas City and Digital Summit At Home, Microsoft Dynamics CRMUG Summit, emfluence’s And Then Some Conference, and for countless local marketing organizations.

*All classes are recorded and will be sent out to all registrants for those that can\'t attend live and/or want to rewatch over and over again (who wouldn\'t?!)

**By joining us for this class, you’ll also get free newsletters from Really Good Emails and Emfluence (if you aren\'t already). You can unsubscribe from either or both at any time.

Email is like sushi: simple ingredients rolled up together in one experience. But as you look closer, you can see how each item is chosen for impact and purpose. There are items for taste, items for texture, and items for function. And like cheap sushi, you can tell when it isn\'t prepared correctly.

Not everyone can make exceptional sushi. About ten years ago, Netflix presented a documentary about an 85-year old chef who was still crafting his trade (titled \\"Jiro dreams of sushi\\"). He was so meticulous about every element of the experience that it landed him with 3 Michelin Stars. People from all over the world would fly in to eat at his restaurant.

What made Jiro successful wasn\'t that he had a secret ingredient, but rather the planning, preparation, and focus on the customer. After all, he was making this for them, not him.

\\"When we have good tuna, I feel great. While I\'m making the sushi, I feel victorious.\\" - Jiro

Standing behind his counter, Jiro notices things. Some customers are left-handed, some right-handed. That helps determine where they are seated at his counter. As he serves a piece of sushi, he observes it being eaten. He knows the history of that piece of seafood and how it was prepared (for example, he knows his staff has recently started massaging an octopus for 45 minutes and not half an hour).

Similar to Jiro, email is all about the reader and their experience. It can be daunting trying to think of where to start when you are trying to compare yourself to masters in the field, but it doesn\'t have to be that way.

Start taking a look at emails in your inbox that you find really good. What do they have in common? What can you grab from these and apply to your own emails?

Here\'s an example.

Going through my favorite emails the other day, I came across this email from Clear:

There\'s a lot going for this email: Live text, large CTA button, great color choices, image overlays, white space, timely messaging with urgency, and visual hierarchy. All of these things are held together with \\"the rice\\" of email, known as the code. If we want to look at any of these elements more closely, we\'ll need to pull it away from the HTML that is surrounding it.

Here\'s how you do that in RGE:

In the top left corner of every email on RGE, you\'ll see a \\"</> View Code\\" button. Here\'s what that looks like for this email we\'ve been looking at:

Unlike the details view, here is where you can do some heavy dissecting because the code and email are being rendered in a live state. You\'ll see editable code on the left, and the email on the right.

Much like sushi, you don\'t need to look at every grain of rice to understand what kind of roll you have - you just need to look at the big stuff. In this example, there are a few different things we can search for in the HTML, so let\'s start with the leading text \\"Your offer takes off tonight\\". Click into the code area and then hit command+f (on apple) or ctrl+f (on windows) to bring up the search bar in the top right corner of the code viewer.

From there, search for the thing you are looking for, such as the text that the email starts with.

You can learn a few things right off the bat from this:

1. The font being used is Lyon Text Regular 2 and the size is at 55px.
2. There are no line breaks inserted between the words \\"takes\\" and \\"off\\", meaning that the text is wrapping naturally.
3. The color being used is black (#000000).
4. Most importantly, that the text in this email is coded (not baked into an image) so it is editable.

Let\'s go in there and change the text to our liking. Select the text you want to change, erase it, and write in what you want. For example, we could change that to \\"International sushi day\\" and see it rendered on the right side instantly.

We haven\'t really changed the look and feel of the email at this point. It\'s still pretty much the same rolled up email we started with. But we have learned that Lyon Text Regular 2 at size 55px looks pretty good and would work with our wording we\'ve chosen.

Before going on with this tutorial, it is important to mention that we are using this process to learn how people are building their emails, what we like about the layout and overall look, and how we can apply those same elements to emails we are working on (not copy the entire email). This process is a widely known strategy for developers. Places like Treehouse and Glitch emphasize breaking someone else\'s code as the best way to learn the code.

However, swapping out a logo, text, and an image and calling it your own creative work is like going into a sushi bar and drizzling a little bit of different sauce on an already-made roll and stating that you are a master sushi chef. It\'s also called stealing. What we are trying to show here is how playing around with the code can give you a better understanding and perspective of making your own emails better.

Now, let\'s go and change more text so that this email makes more sense with that header text about International sushi day and see what it would look like if we applied some of our own copy with the length we\'ve been given, change out the font styles, etc:

This isn\'t an email about a casual walk around an airport any more - it\'s about International Sushi so let\'s dress it up with some imagery that fits that. When we dig into the code, we see that this is actually a transparent image overlaid on top of the angled blue and white background. That\'s pretty cool and something we should teach ourselves how that is done.

First, let\'s change that out with an image that is transparent so we can keep the angled blue background. A quick way to find that image in the code is to right click on it and hit \\"Copy Image Address.\\" If you are looking for something that isn\'t an image (such as a button, background color, etc), then use \\"inspect\\" in Chrome - which will highlight the element so that you can grab it and then search for that same thing in the code editor:

Just like we did for text, let\'s search and replace the image in the code editor for an image or illustration that works better for our vision of a sushi email. What happens when we insert a really tall image? A really short image? A really wide image? The code here is commented on really well so we can also see the other elements that this area relies on within the <! -- walking --> section, such as right alignment, padding, and width constraints. We can play around with those and see how it changes the look and feel. Let\'s make some adjustments and throw in our sushi illustration:

We can continue to tweak things here and there to our own taste. Breaking things along the way is part of the process. It helps teach you the structure and the variables that you can mess around with - and the things that you probably shouldn\'t. Let\'s try colors next.

Upon further discovery, the background blue color isn\'t an image but rather coded gradient. That\'s pretty dope. What happens when we change the colors around within the gradient? To do that, use a color picker plug-in or use a site like coolors.com that gives you a nice variety of colors that go well together. I settled on #F69883 and played around with some different options, eventually landing on this:

We could do this for hours, but this whole exercise has taken me about 35 minutes and you get the gist. We\'ve learned some cool things in a short amount of time that we can apply to our own emails in the future, such as font choices, image overlays, and gradients. We can use this email and come back to how they built it if we get stuck building our own thing too.

But before you go and start serving up this new email you\'ve made from the parts of another email, think twice. There\'s much more that goes into an email than swapping images, text, and colors. Like a master sushi chef, there\'s planning, organizing, and execution that makes all the difference. This code editing and breaking process, however, will get you more accustomed to how others build their emails and how you can use those elements in your own recipes.

And it is pretty satisfying to compare the original when you\'ve spent some time with the code and understanding how to make it different.

Email is like sushi: simple ingredients rolled up together in one experience. But as you look closer, you can see how each item is chosen for impact.

The basics about rendering issues, what causes them, and why you should care.

Let\'s imagine that you just spent hours conjuring up a kick-ass email. But as you go to send it, you notice that the preview that just hit your inbox looks off. Maybe an image is misaligned, there are broken layouts, text is underlined when it shouldn\'t be, or there\'s more added to the footer that makes it look terrible. Welcome to the world of email rendering. You would think that after almost 50 years of emails being sent that we\'d have a solution for this.

You\'d be wrong.

Unlike other visual mediums, email\'s complications come from how different systems interpret the code of the email. If we bundle webmail clients together with browsers, there are five major factors that determine how an email renders:

1. Email service providers (ESP)
2. Operating systems
3. App and web-based email clients
4. Screen sizes
5. Images enabled/blocked/dynamically inserted

Unfortunately, when emails are submitted to RGE, we view them as if they were made for the web - meaning that we don\'t take into account all the issues that may come from the designs appearing in different places.

That\'s why we teamed up with Litmus to grab the inbox previews of some of the most popular clients (more of that below) so that everyone can use this information when they are basing their inspiration off of an email on RGE.

To get started, just simply click into any email and look to the right hand side. You\'ll see something like this:

By simply clicking into the preview, you\'ll see the full view plus three other popular clients including Outlook, Outlook.com, and iPhone X.

Now, geared with information on how the design looks in the most popular clients, you are ready to rock-and-roll with the code of the email to make your own version or be inspired to take certain elements and use them for your own reasons.

But, we know you didn\'t come here just for that. You came here to know why emails look differently based on where you open it. Here\'s how those 5 factors we mentioned earlier impact your emails:

Email Service Providers (ESPs)

Did you know that your ESP often will change your email\'s code as you send an email? This is typically a good thing so that they can add tracking pixels, rewrite links or remove code that gets emails stuck in spam filters. But, as with any unchecked changes, these can also be bad for how emails show up.

When the typical brand uses about 2 different email marketing platforms to create an email, that is double the places that an email can go wrong.

Operating Systems

The OS of your subscriber’s computer, tablet, smartphone, or other device limits or enhances the capabilities of the email client that sits on top of it. While a handful of major OSs dominate the market, many different versions of those OSs are in use by consumers. For instance, Windows 10, 8, and 7 all have considerable market share.

App and Web-based email clients

If you want to get to the heart of email rendering, then the client is where you want to focus your attention. Email clients, such as Gmail, Hotmail, Outlook, and others can run in desktop, mobile, and web environments. Web-based email clients have an extra layer of complexity because they render differently in different browsers. For example, Gmail functions a little differently depending on whether a subscriber is using Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, or Safari.

Litmus has identified about 1,000 webmail clients around the world, plus roughly 250 mobile email apps, along with a much smaller number of desktop email apps. Realistically, Apple holds the largest amount with the most market share.

Screen Size

The size of the subscriber’s screen or monitor also has a big impact on email rendering. Interacting with an email on a 21-inch monitor and a smartphone with a 4-inch screen are dramatically different experiences.

In the smartphone category alone, there are hundreds of unique screen dimensions. To simplify things, let’s assume there are just 5 screen size categories that we care about: desktop, laptop, tablet, phablet (phone-tablet hybrids), and smartphone. That is still 5 different things we need to check to make sure that a design is being responsive.

Disabled Images

Images can be enabled and blocked in many email clients. This generally creates two very different renderings of an email—sometimes wildly different renderings. Usually, due to their email client’s default setting or a personal preference, images are blocked automatically for many subscribers, leading to emails that lack the ability to immediately communicate and make an impact, or even looking broken.

Dynamically inserted Images

Lastly, if you are running an email that has personalization (such as tailoring images based on the user\'s preferences), then you are looking at even more issues that could arise if your data and images are not standardized.

--Let\'s do the math--

If we put all those factors together, we get…

2 email marketing providers x 15 operating systems x 50 email clients x 5 screen sizes x 2 image states = 15,000+ potential renderings.

It\'s important to keep in mind that you don\'t need to test for all 15k potential renderings. That would take way too long. However, you should notice where your subscribers are opening and make sure that your email doesn\'t look like garbage when they open it up. We hope by providing a few previews with our growing catalog of really good emails that you can see how others are doing this and what you may want to keep an eye out.

As always, thanks for reading!

From the beginning of mankind/womankind, buttons have been useful in interacting with the physical world. Here’s a quick rundown on how humans have developed buttons for special purposes:

Exhibit: History of the button. Not approved by the Smithsonian, but it could be.

Since the button transitioned into the virtual world via Apple computers in 1986, there really hasn’t been that much of a development. Sure, there is a one less border (or maybe no border at all) and some color added, but it looks very much like it did back then.

Now in technicolor!

Interests

So, as the second part of the Email Design Trends of 2016 article, I took every email submitted to ReallyGoodEmails.com in 2016 and broke down their call-to-action (CTA) buttons. I logged multiple data points for each email to learn everything I could about what people were doing with their branded buttons. It was pretty tedious. It sucked. I kept telling myself: “Do it for the children!”

Here’s what I was looking for specifically:

• What’s the most popular size for a CTA button?
• What’s the most popular color for a CTA button?
• What’s the most popular shape for a CTA button?
• What’s the most popular frequency of a CTA button?
• What’s the most popular placement of a CTA button?
• What’s the most popular wording used in a CTA button?
• What’s the most popular character length in a CTA button?

The proof is in the pudding, as the say. And I love pudding.

Then there were more peripheral answers I was looking for, such as:

• How does branding dictate CTA choice?
• How often do icons, images, or unicode characters appear in CTAs?
• How does frequency affect tertiary CTA buttons?
• How do I order a pizza at 1 am when I am working on stuff like this?

Discoveries

Surprisingly, there wasn’t one data point that every brand does exactly the same. Sure, there are clusters, showing a common acceptance of some practice, but there are definitely deviations and traits. Here’s what I found:

SIZE

• The average CTA button is 47.9 pixels tall. However, the two largest clusters are 47 pixels and 50 pixels tall.
• The smallest CTA button was 20 pixels tall. With Apple suggesting that any touch point should be at least 44 pixels tall, it is very unlikely that someone will tap on this on their phone. (However, in every instance where this button size existed, it was baked into an image — not hard coded — and the entire image was linked. This occurred in most buttons that were below 40 pixels tall.)
• The largest CTA buttons were 115 pixels tall. These were definitely an outlier. Just look at the frequency distribution below. It is way out there, without any friends.

I do need to mention, though, that there are factors which affect the size such as font size, padding, and maybe even genetics. I’ve thrown some of those into a “Consideration” section below.

COLOR

• 48% of brands match their CTA to a color within their brand logo (of non-black or non-white logos). Of brands with black logos, 30% matched it with a black CTA while brands with white logos only matched it 10%.
• Blue is the clear winner for CTA color of choice. Brown wasn’t ever used. Sorry, brown.

Blue is always chosen first on my playground kickball team.

• Only 2 hex color codes appeared multiple times in the data: #28AFFA and #55ACEE (the latter happens to be Twitter’s official color so maybe there’s been some code stealing? Just sayin’.)
• White buttons appeared less because a majority of emails had a white background. One could assume that if there was an increase of colored backgrounds, you would see white used more often to contrast that background color.

SHAPE

• Rounded edges are used the most: roughly 54% of the time.
• Completely square is used second most: 28% of the time.
• Pill-shaped comes in last: 18% of the time. However, in the past few months, this shape is being used more (26% more compared to the beginning of the year). Maybe a growing trend?

FREQUENCY

• The average email contains 2.1 CTA buttons. It is kind of like the census saying that the average American household contains 2.54 people. Don’t ask how you get 0.1 of a button in there, nor 0.54 of a person.
• The maximum number of CTAs in an email is 11. 56% of all emails contain 1 CTA, 24% contain 2, and 20% contain 3 or more. And of those that contain more than 3, 50% of those contain more than 5. Yikes.

• Of emails that contain 5 or more CTAs, retail brands account for 90%.

PLACEMENT

• The most popular place for a CTA is in the top 3rd of the email. 38% of all emails had their first CTA somewhere near the top, usually within an image or right below a header image.
• The second most popular place was the bottom 3rd. Even though it is second, it is a very close second: 35% of all emails put their first (and usually only) CTA at the bottom.
• The least popular was the middle. Not too far off, with 27% of CTAs happening here.

WORDING

• The most popular verb in a CTA is “Get”. As in “Get it now” or “Get yourself a pizza.” This word was used more than 10% of the time to instill action.
• The top ten verbs are as follows (in order of frequency):
• 1. Get
• 2. Shop
• 3. Take
• 4. Read
• 5. Book
• 6. View
• 7. Start
• 8. See
• 9. Find
• 10. Join
• Surprisingly, there was only one CTA that started with “Buy” compared to almost 10% that started with “Shop.”

CHARACTERS

• The average button contains 14 characters.
• The shortest character count was just 3 letters. (It was “YES”.)
• The longest character count was 66. That is more than what Google displays in search results for a title tag. Also, looks like it may be on the same diet as that super big button we saw earlier.

Love this? You’ll love our newsletter!

OTHER INSIGHTS THAT DIDN’T FIT UNDER A TOPIC ABOVE

• 17% of brands duplicate their first CTA. They throw the second CTA at the end as a reminder. The average email that has a duplicate CTA contains 3.9 buttons.
• 87% of brands fill in their buttons as opposed to just having an open button with a border around the text.
• When CTAs compete (placed side by side), some brands show that one has less priority by making the second CTA open (not filled in).
• 4% of brands use an extra wide or edge-to-edge CTA button.
• Gradient buttons seem to be dead. Only 3 emails out of the data set contained a gradient button.
• Only one email contained an image within the button. It was a Facebook icon.
• While some brands were consistent with their formatting and colors, some change with every send. For example, InVision always uses their branded pink and rounded edges and Dollar Shave Club uses their branded orange and rounded for all of their newsletters. On the other hand, Moo uses rounded corners, but changes the color or fill of the CTA.

Considerations

• Within the findings, I use “average” which refers to the mean; the most popular is the value that occurs most often; and in some cases I note the median or middle value.
• I used tools such as ColorZilla (to determine the button color), Awesome Screenshot (to determine the size of the button when it was baked into an image) and an excel.
• The CTA button color varies based on background color and branding guidelines. For example, a white button will show very well when the background is dark or always using the color pink for branding purposes. This also plays a part with colors chosen to match the brand’s logo.
• The CTA button analysis for color, character length, size, shape, and positioning only used the first CTA button to appear in the email. This was done on the assumption that the first CTA was the most important CTA in the email and also because I didn’t want to log every single tertiary CTA’s attributes.
• Lastly, and probably most importantly, this data may be skewed based on if a brand used elements provided by their ESP and how many of those emails appeared in the data set. For example, MailChimp and Campaign Monitor’s drag-and-drop button is rounded. Mailchimp’s buttons are also, by default, blue and 47 pixels tall with a bold font at size 20.

If you enjoyed this post, send it to a friend (or arch-nemesis) and follow us on twitter

From the beginning of mankind/womankind, buttons have been useful in interacting with the physical world. But since this a site for email marketers, we\'ll stick to what\'s going on with virtual buttons.

On this very special episode, we're looking at - count 'em - 18 different emails. From the Golden State Warriors to the New York Red Bulls, the American Heart Association, Dave Ramsey looking for some pizzazz, and even that fan-freaking-tastic BBC email from Action Rocket.

This FF episode was sponsored by Knak. Schedule a demo to build your own really good emails and get them to market in minutes.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1) An RGE classic: Think of design golf when you're creating your emails. Aim for the lowest design score with the fewest amount of design differences. Simplify your design and reduce everything to the lowest common denominator. Use clear, bold headings, clear CTAs, simple imagery, and put the focus on the email copywriting.

2) Small text, bold body copy, and heavy padding can be hard to read. Make important text easy to see.

3) Moving between left and center-aligned elements can be distracting. Pick one and stick with it.

4) If you're writing long-form email content, use live text. That gives you more flexibility with the look and feel of the email, and the size of your font on mobile. An image-only email is a lot to download, whereas live text scales to be readable on a phone. You can even throw in a table of contents and guide your audience through the email. Make sure you're writing content that people want to read.

*BONUS* People will read your emails like a billboard - they've got seconds to read the email and figure out the job it's doing for them. Don't tell...show! \\\"Don't tell me you're funny. Tell me a joke.\\\"

Matthew Smith: Hey it's Feedback Friday, everybody. It’s wonderful to be here with Matt Helbig, my best buddy from Really Good Emails, and all of you Email Geeks. Another great Friday in a wild set of years 2020, 2021, we are moving folks.

We've got a special episode here ahead where we're doing something a little bit new, a little bit different and I'm psyched about it. Matt Helbig, can you tell us what's going on?

Matt Helbig: Sure thing. This is Episode 100 of Feedback Friday, we made it.

Matthew Smith: Are we 100 years old now? That feels impossible that that's a reality.

Matt Helbig: We're timelords. Yeah, we made it. I didn't think when we first started this that we would eventually get here. I think it started as a fun little weekly episode and it's come a long way since our first email review. So, for this 100th episode, we have emails submitted directly from the community to look at. I'm excited to jump through these and give them a look.

Matthew Smith: Yeah me too, this is exciting. Thank you to all the submitters. This is a fantastic opportunity and a lot of fun. I hope everybody learns a lot. We'll try and move through a lot of these very quickly, but hopefully, it's one of the best episodes we've ever done.

Matthew Smith: Are you ready to jump in Matt?

Matt Helbig: Heck yes.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/kW1J77LgncE

Matthew Smith: Alright, tell me a little bit about this email. I know that we gathered some information from all the submitters, so what are we hearing from this one?

Matt Helbig: This one is from Barebones Living. We're a big fan of this brand overall. We probably would have done a whole episode on them eventually. The feedback they're looking for is, are consumers wanting to consume information and education alongside products, or does a copy-heavy email tend to get lost in the shuffle? What are the best practices when presenting larger bodies of text?

Matthew Smith: That's a great question. For me, the answer is that it depends. 

Classic cop-out. I feel like a politician. It depends on your audience, and if your audience is really into your information, or if they're in more of a utility setting. How do you find that out? You conduct interviews, get to know your audience, call them, talk to them, email them, have them take surveys, learn from the data. Present this email in two different ways. Present it in a long-form way, and present it in a short-form way and see which people tend to resonate with. 

Now, keep in mind that whether or not people buy something, that's one metric. Whether they enjoyed something and learned something, that's another metric, which is something to consider. 

Now, one thing I would say is if you're going to do long-form copy, you've got to take your emails to live text. This is something where I like Barebones’s emails. I like their products a lot, I'm very interested in what they're doing. If they were excited about sending us free things, I would smile. However, the thing is that this text needs to be live. 

Look at how it looks on mobile, it's so small, and it's not flexible so you can't change this text to multivariate testing, because it's set up as images. Now, I suppose you could do multiple different kinds of images, but this is a ton of imagery to download. 

Then, look how small things get especially down here in some of these areas. I feel like this is a great opportunity, especially with this font stack. These are two fonts that you could use, Trebuchet for this, and you could use Georgia for that if you don't want to deal with custom typefaces. 

You can get away with that with your OS 10, or Windows-level fonts, these are available for everybody. There’s no excuse, but I understand that this is a unique layout and it looks cool. I think they're doing a great job, but that would be what I would change first. 

Again, get to know your audience, see if they're comfortable with longer-form text, see if this is information that they want to learn about, and then present that information in live text so that it scales to be much more readable on a phone. 

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I agree with the live text. I think that's a necessity for something that's going to be a longer form and editorial. I don't think this layout totally works for me. I wish it would read a little bit more, and maybe those images are full width because you want to learn more about them. I think to your point, asking your customers what kind of content they want to receive is important. I know storytelling is a super important part, but ask people if they're resonating with this content and if they want to learn more through this medium rather than just getting a sales email for some things.

Matthew Smith: Last thought on this to your point is, I want to cook like a cowboy. This line here, I want to cook in a way that feels that way. I think that line would be better up here. So, learn how to cook like a cowboy, and then dive them in. The reason I'm reading this long-form information is really important, versus, revisiting the Chuck Wagon and open fire cooking. Well, what about it? Open fire cooking tastes more authentic, ooh, I want to do that, get me in there faster. 

We’re going to keep rolling through. So, let's jump to the next one. Tell me a little bit about Sola here.

Matt Helbig: This is Sola Salon Studios. They're a salon site that haircutters and salon people can sign up for. This looks like an onboarding email. Their question was, as the first email our potential new customers see, does this email entice them to be interested to learn more?

I think with this one I struggled with this step-by-step process. I feel like that's effective when those are actual steps that you can take care of. Maybe step one is sign up, that's already a step that you completed, which would be kind of a fun, cool way to entice people to read more and do the steps. 

However, this layout of the content doesn't resonate with me as much as communicating something effectively, rather than kind of putting them in steps. For me, it doesn't work as well, but I think the rest of the email, especially maybe on a more B2B side works relatively well for communicating information at signup. What do you think?

Matthew Smith: For me, I think this is an interesting idea and it's just not executed at a level where it's going to grab people's interest. Imagine not being able to read any of this information.

For example, you've got one second to decide if you're going to read it or not. The only thing that gets to me within that one second is the photos, and the photos are compelling in the sense that they look custom, and it looks safe, I see people with masks on, at least in one of them. I see good product placement, but it's hard to know what these products are, they look fairly generic, but it does something. 

The thing that is not working is step one, step two, step three, step four, step five. Having the different steps doesn't say anything. Instead of saying steps, you could say, step one in smaller text, but your heading really should be something like one on one private salon appointment. Step two, flat weekly fee, or something like, step three, own your own schedule.

You're giving people an at-a-glance way of understanding what the content is. Then, up top, you want to have a sentence that grabs them right away and lets them know why they should spend the next one minute reading everything below, and nothing in this email is doing that. The layout doesn't bother me, it's super generic, but I think you could get away with that. 

If there were three things I would change about this email, it would be copywriting that allows me to scan or index the email quickly so I can see what it's going to be about. Headings, clear strong headings that drive me in. I would increase the font size so that it is a little easier and faster to read. Lastly, I would make this email read with more hierarchy. Start with headings, then subtext which starts telling more information, and then see how it performs. I want these step headings to be more clear. I would love to see how something like that would perform. 

Then, the last thing is that they’re using imagery to do headings here, but I don't think it's necessary. I think that using that doesn't add much value compared to simply putting the brand up there and spending more time on copywriting. That would be my fix for this one.

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I agree and one last note, I think you're right, an onboarding email is probably one of the best emails you can test, because if that's the first communication you have with a brand then test that email so you can get the results you want.

This one is HealthyWage. Their feedback was, how can I improve this layout for mobile users? I think they have to improve a couple of things.

Matthew Smith: It's hard. Emailing is hard and there are so many opportunities for everybody, so keep in mind that when we go through these we're trying to be thoughtful for everybody. This is hard work, and every single email can be improved. We think about our emails and how to improve them all the time and honestly, sometimes we don't have the time or the resources, and everybody is facing that. We're going to go through with that in mind. 

One of the first things I would say about this email is there's too much going on visually, it's hectic and hard to keep up with. I talk about design golf and playing to achieve the lowest point value by having the fewest number of differences. You've got the logo typeface up here, then you've got this blue heading, then this body copy, another blue heading, now we've got an orange heading, an orange CTA, and a blue CTA.

Then, we've got a white background with very little padding, which ends up making it feel broken or hectic because it feels like what is the padding there for? That's a weird psychological thing but it is the way that it is. Then, there's not enough space between these, you have, The Winning Skinny, which is another sort of layout, where you've got this different topography here. Then, there's so little padding between these sections that you don't know what's what, it feels like it's all glommed together. Finally, you have this last one.

If it were me, I would start by reducing everything to the lowest common denominator, try and see if you could get away with only one color difference. In this case, your blue is saying, hey this is a link, but this is not a link, this is a heading, you're mixing metaphors here. This should be a black heading, this should be a black heading, and then, if you want to use blue as your CTA, great, use it only for your CTA colors. Get some padding, get some basic design principles, spread everything out a little bit better, and you'll be doing a lot better. Then, apply that same thinking to mobile and try to simplify everything. 

This is why I say most people, and most brands, if you have a low budget or a small team, try to make your emails, way, way simpler and focus only on copywriting. Get a really clean, good hierarchy template that has really clear, bold headings, very clear typography, very clear CTAs, simple imagery, and run with that. Once you start perfecting that and get your sales up, then choose one small thing to start improving on, or change, or add complexity to it. I would say this email feels too complex and ends up feeling messy. 

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I mean I like the copy in this, I think it works pretty well. I think the layout is championing the app and making it the main focus. If you're confident in your app then show the whole app and have those screens animate or something. I think we've seen that in a few other emails for other brands. I think overall this is a cool welcoming message, but I think some of the layout stuff could work a little bit better on both desktop and mobile. 

This is weMail. They are some sort of an agency or a way to make emails and their question is, looking at email content, is this the right type of content to share with their audience? I think it might be hard for us to answer without looking at this a little bit deeper, but I think overall, as a product update email, this is a little content-heavy. We've seen other brands make these a little bit more exciting when they're sharing fixes and improvements with their audience.

Matthew Smith: Based on the question, here's the thing that I always push toward, this jobs-to-be-done way of thinking and get down to the people. If I'm currently using weMail to send emails for my eCommerce business, my daily grind is, how do I keep growing my business? How do I use email to sell products? Right now, this email feels bland and covers so much ground that it's hard to feel like I know what's being told, and so I'm unlikely to read the whole thing. However, if the October update were something such as three clear ways to improve your email strategy to get sales, then I'm going to read it. 

Similarly, if it says, Case study of how this brand used weMail to improve eCommerce sales by 25% within three weeks, or something very focused, I'm going to read that shit so hard. Then, you can cover, oh, they did that through an easy digital download integration, or, because we made these bug fixes, now this is possible. Bug fixes on their own aren't that interesting to me, but bug fixes leading to a solution, that's interesting. Enhancements and improvements that say, I can now do this or that, that's interesting to me, but right now this is too much information. 

The main thing is that there are very few emails that aren't utility. Think about being in line at the grocery store, is that a good place to have a long conversation? No. Is it a good place to pull out the magazine and read an article? No, for a bunch of reasons, you're trying to get through the line.

Another way that I like to think about it, and somebody recently posted something and it made me think about this, email is a billboard, it's the same experience. Because of that, 90% of the time your audience wants to read your emails the way they would read a billboard. They've got seconds to do this and if you can't do it if you can't hook them into the advantage of reading this email, the job it's doing for them, then you've lost them. I would trim things up, make it focused, make sure you are clear on this is the job that this email is doing. Then, judge yourself and ask, is it doing that job for that customer? If not, change it to make sure that it does in the future. 

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I think my last note on this is if you can visualize some of these integrations or improvements a little bit better, other than showing a logo, that might help. With some of these, you want to show the customer what they can do with your product rather than tell them. That would be my feedback. 

Matthew Smith: That's right. Yeah, good call. One of my favorite ways of saying that is, don't tell me you're funny, tell me a joke. Don't tell me about what you do, show me what you do.

Matt Helbig: This one is from the American Heart Association. The feedback that they're looking for is that they said it was a template, there's a shared module. That's interesting to see that they're having those icons underneath each of these sections to promote some sharing within the different modules.

Matthew Smith: I hear that, but there's only one share button that I see, but maybe I'm missing something. Overall, I would say that these folks are doing something pretty wise, which is what I talked about earlier in the episode, which is, whatever you do, do it simply. They have their logo, they have their big heading, pretty big text, a nice clear button, and then an image. In this case, they have an image, heading, text, and then the CTA.

I would say, and this is nitpicky, but I would say if you're going to left align your heading and text, then left align your button. When you mix cases like that, you're adding a point of distraction. The way that readers read, especially in Western audiences is, left to right, so you're creating a little bit of a distraction. Most people aren't going to think about that, but they'll feel it, so left align that thing.

I think this works pretty well. Then, in terms of design, what I would say, is if you're going to use imagery that is full width like this, then stay consistent. Something like this breaks that layout and doesn't feel as good, especially something where you go centered, left, left, centered; it gets pretty hectic visually. When you're not hectic visually, you create rest for the user that they can move through.

Content-wise, I feel this could use some work again on jobs to be done. Why are people reading this content? Are you using your content to drive that interest? This is something somebody might scan. For example, Staying on track during the holidays. What does that mean, staying on track? You know it's healthy, does that mean like my dieting? Everybody's writing articles like this so why do I want to read this article? If it's, Five tips you probably didn't know about how to stay healthy during the holidays, or, Our staff's five favorite tips, it shows curation. I would think about copywriting that drives that interest. How about you?

Matt Helbig: I think it works well. In general, on the design side, it's great that they're using the brand colors and the layout is pretty good, but I think your point too, is focusing on that content and making sure it's useful to your audience.

To me, the share stuff, I'm not a big share from emails. I like to read the content a little bit more so maybe that could be at the bottom of the email or integrated separately because it distracts me from the content of the overall message. I think it's a cool feature to add into the email, but make it super clear what I'm sharing, or what I'm being asked to do there. 

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I agree, I don't think I've ever shared a section of an email. I may have forwarded a sale or something like that, but never a newsletter I don't think. I'm just one user, but that's my experience.

Matt Helbig: This one is from Red Bull New York. They wanted to do what looks like a virtual viewing party. They asked, is the GIF too low quality? Each section is very boxy, left align text.

Matthew Smith: The GIF is my favorite part. I think it does a great job. It’s high activity, you see sports paraphernalia that you're going to resonate with, you see people doing different things, there's a lot of action, and it's really fun. I would center on that more and lead with it.

The top part of the email feels a little disintegrated to me, it's hard to read and I don't know what this Fan Appreciation Day is. I have to look at it and take time to turn my head and read that to see if it makes sense. Then, I'm able to tell that this is about Red Bull, although if I just quickly glance at it, it almost looks like a panda bear. I know the Red Bull logo and that did not read that way. Then, I guess Toronto FC, if I'm familiar with that, it’s going to be clear to me pretty quick. However, this is the champion part, I loved this. 

Then, the text itself, because it reads in a top-down way and then the text. I like that it's left-aligned in the sense that this amount of text should never be centered aligned, but then it’s a bit hard to read, it's bold. Bold text is always harder to read in body copy. It should never be used in body copy like this.

So instead, We want to celebrate YOU, what does that even mean? I think, Join us for a special Fan Appreciation Day, that's what you're trying to say. Say that in a big bold heading, and then put the rest of it in body copy. I would also increase the size and make it regular weight so it's easier to read, move the register button to the left, and I would put limited spots available up, right under here, so it's easy to see. That would help to simplify the email.

One big thing that is working well here is that this Register Now button is really clear. They did a great job of really calling you.

Matt Helbig: I agree with you on the boldness, it makes the whole message sound the same. I think using formatting to highlight the really important information, like the date and time, or that there are limited spots available, are the main parts of that message.

I think there's a better way, such as a graphic, that you could lay out the date and time a little bit easier to scan rather than having to dive into this, even the top paragraph. Overall, it seems like a pretty polished email. I think there are preferences when it comes to the fact that I'd rather have a rounded button than the square, or I’d add some padding around the limited spots available, but overall, it’s a pretty simple, nice little invite email.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, and I'm sure it was effective. I just remembered that we're recording our faces so now I'm trying to smile.

Matt Helbig: This one's from the Golden State Warriors, and I think they're looking for some general best practices, see if anything stands out to us. I know we've seen a few of these on the site already. This orange popped out to me.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I'm super psyched to be able to talk out loud about this set. They've submitted so many and/ or someone else has submitted for them. This email to me is so close. We've accepted some and these are so creative, they're very close to me, but I would change just a few key things. 

For one, they do some neat things by having the top stick out here. I think that creates a cool feeling. A lot of them are white, and then very thin emails. I don't know why they're so thin, but it works. They do some neat things here with this lightning bolt, super on brand, really interesting in that way. Here's the thing, why is this text so small and padded so heavily? It makes it hard to read. Then, this button, blue on blue doesn't work for me. 

However, look at some of this creative stuff, this GIF that's masked out with these lightning bolts. That's freaking rad, I love it. I want more of that, that's dialed in. I think that's so hot. When you have cool assets to work with such as this great photography, great videography, they're killing it. This is such a great idea, but again, here, why is this so small? It's so sad. This could be nice, clear, and big, and it could be padded where you've got about 40 pixels of padding on the side, but why is it almost 80? It doesn't make any sense to me. 

Then, little things like this are weird. What is this line? I don't even know. 

Matt Helbig: Yeah, that is weird, I didn’t even notice that. It looks like an error, it’s not bolded enough.  

Matthew Smith: Yeah, it’s in between, but I don't think it's necessary. If it were me, I would figure out a way to tilt the jersey on the side and let it bleed off the edges or something more in line with the feeling I get from these. The main issue that I have with this thing is that there is so much working for this email, but I feel it is, not ruined, but severely diminished, by this text. 

Matt Helbig: I think the skinniness is to make it look good on mobile, but I think to your point, if someone's opening this in Gmail on a desktop, they're going to have a poor experience. They may be seeing a lot of their opens on this mobile view. That's my only thought as to why it looks like this.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, but even on mobile, look at the padding, it's not necessary. Now, let's put this into perspective. I'm being picky here because this is an amazing email and it's so close to being unreal. If we made some small changes, or if they did, these would be some of my favorite emails. I think that they are so close to nailing it on so many levels. That said, I think they're probably getting good traction on these emails; most people are not upset in any way about this text. What I’m talking about is at a design level. 

I would say the 2021 Nike City Edition, what does that even mean? Visually, this is super close, but content-wise, how do you drive people to desperately say they can't wait for the next Oakland forever email to come through? What is the information about sports, about this team, that I am dying to know? I don't think it quite does that kind of stuff. I'd love to see the copywriting get amped up and a little bit more aggressive.

Matt Helbig: This is Flight Centre Australia. They asked for some feedback, but they mostly talked about how hard it is to code this, that it's a template, and there are a lot of issues with it. I'm not sure what feedback they're looking for so we can just have a general take. 

For me at least, I think a lot of travel emails look the same a lot of the time, especially some of the ones that we see, so this one looks pretty alright to me. It looks similar to some of those sort of travel-type emails. For me that CTA is a little low, or they could make these card layouts stand out a little bit more. What do you think?

Matthew Smith: You know, if it's me and I'm traveling, it's all about that inspiration, and one of the main things that I'm seeing here is these photos are being obfuscated by these prices. I get that it’s sort of a clever way to show the price, but you're removing the main thing I want to see. I want to be inspired to go to New Zealand, show me New Zealand. Now that said, I would also say that the photography could be improved. This feels so stock-photo-related that it's not as inspiring. If they would spend a little bit more money and create that real sense of, like, I need to be there, I want to do that, here's this deal, I think you could see some improvement. 

The next thing I would suggest is, I hear what you're saying Matt about so many travel emails looking the same, however, I still think there's too much going on in this email. I would get clear on your visual language. The brand is red and white, so I think that part is working well, but it's also a little heavy.

You go down through this email and the red grabs your attention, that's fine, but it also means that my eye is left-aligned here, center-aligned, center-aligned, left-aligned, now it's over to the right. It does this back and forth and back and forth so it's very hard to scan. Although the red is drawing my attention to what this deal is, I kind of want those headings to be bigger, clearer, and celebrated, and the photos to not be obfuscated. 

I think there are probably some other, simpler templates that they could use if they're using a template, but I think this is probably doing a decent job. I like that the CTAs are one color, and they're clear about where I want to check-in. I like how much live text there is. There are some small things that I think could improve this so that it would be easier to scan and read. I think that would increase sales.

Matt Helbig: This next one is from Team Action Rocket showing off some emails they did, I'm guessing for the BBC, and they're trying to show off some interactive stuff. I think this interactive stuff works pretty well. I think overall, it's a fun-looking email with some cool interactivity. What are your thoughts on some of this interactive stuff and maybe this use case specifically?

Matthew Smith: Well, this is just magic. It's so crazy It's really neat to see. I think one of the things I would say is, people are so not used to emails behaving interactively that this doesn't quite feel like a button to me. It feels like I'm going to go somewhere on the site, and so this will take me to the site. I think it might be interesting to somehow try and create a bit more engaging, button feeling. That said, it's amazing what's happening here, I would love to see the fallbacks and stuff like that, but this is beautiful. 

This is all about photography, they're showing it off and I think it does it well. If it were up to me, I would probably make this a little less visually busy from a design perspective, but I can't believe that this is in an email. I've heard such good things about the Action Rocket team, in terms of their capabilities, and it's fun to see that activated here. I love it. I think it's working well. What about you?

Matt Helbig: Same, I think the little wiggly animations on some of the buttons here really do help guide you. I think that is one of these things with interactive email, the more that we see them, it still is hard for me to understand exactly how to use an interactive email. I think any sort of tooltips or something that you can add to an email to guide those people with those elements until they become familiar is helpful for the end-user. 

This one here, Converge, they want to know, how do we present long-form content?

Matthew Smith: Three things that I would change to help do that, is for one, make sure that your content is something that your audience is desperately wanting to read, and that you guide them into that with your initial heading, which Happy December does not do.

Secondly, give it a larger body copy size on the desktop view. I think the mobile view is probably fine, but on desktop, this is a little bit too small. Lastly, guide people down per section, so if you're going to change the section, lead it with a paragraph. Make sure that your content has a job to be done and that it’s something that the people who are reading it want to read. This feels like a lot, but I'm not sure about the motivation. How about you?

Matt Helbig: Tightening up that copy as much as possible, finding the information that people resonate with, I think there's a little bit too much lead-in and they could display this information a little bit clearer for people to scan. 

Matthew Smith: I've also seen people do a table of contents on a long email like this, maybe that would help.

Matt Helbig: Cool. This next one, Briefcase, looks like another newsletter. I think they talked about tone, but overall I think this one works pretty well. It reminds me a lot of a Product Hunt email, I think it's a similar template. I don't have that much new stuff for this. How about you?

Matthew Smith: Yeah, it's some of the same things that we've said before, make sure your copy is doing a job that is interesting and engaging to your customers. I would say, and you've heard me say it several times on this, but we move between left align and center align quite a bit through here. I think that that can be distracting. Overall, I think, emails like this can work well for different people, you just want to see if that's getting people to get those clicks. 

Matt Helbig: Okay, the next one, Instantprint. I think we've looked at a few of their emails. I think this one is alright, but it's unclear to me exactly what they're selling. I think they could display it a little bit better. I feel like reading this white text is a lot for me, there's a lot of bright colors coming in.

Matthew Smith: Yep. I feel like if there was one simple thing that I would do to change this email, it would be to play design golf and reduce the numbers of complexities and see what you could do to simplify and see if that improves your sales.

Matt Helbig: Okay, this next one, Dave Ramsey has a newsletter, he's looking for what you could do to add some more pizzazz.

Matthew Smith: I think if you wanted to, you could add something to this top area. If there was a GIF, adding some subtle movement in the background, that might be exciting. I think the Formula One emails are a good example of how that's done, and even the Oakland emails we looked at are doing that well.

I think this is a good example copy, Discover how to reset your money in one night, that's really valuable content writing right there. That gets people moving. I think this marker font would be a good thing to use and be consistent with down the way. If it were me, trying to improve an email like this, money is such a serious topic, people don't want to laugh about it. If you could incorporate some humor into your content that would get people laughing, I think that would go a long way to get people to want to read it because it's funny. 

Matt Helbig: This next one is Bearpaw. They want to learn how they can improve click rates and any other feedback on the email design in general. I think these fashion ones are kind of hard to comment on sometimes because it is based around that product photography.

Matthew Smith: You know, I think people want to know something about these sandals. They can see the aesthetic, but do they see the value? Are they looking for compatibility, are they looking for strength? What is it about the sandal that they're wanting to do? When you know what that is, you're going to be able to write better copy and take better photos to help sell these things. Honestly, I think for a fashion email, this is a very good email. I am into it. 

Matt Helbig: Sweet. For Visit Rapid City, they're asking to add some more content without cluttering this up and letting them know about a loyalty program. I think this one is not cluttered, but it already has a good amount of content, it looks like.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I think, on some of these things, again, it's finding that right thing to say to your audience. What is it that they want to get out of roundup weekend? Is it going out with their family, is it seeing these buffalo? What is the experience? Tell them about that experience, not just the title of the experience. 

Matt Helbig: Yeah, for me the CTAs on that one could be a little bit clearer as well. They don't stand out as much to me. 

Matthew Smith: Good call, yeah, these are hard to see. 

Matt Helbig: This one's from Liven, they are wondering about the overall design. Is it appealing enough to someone to click through? I guess for me that whitespace, there's almost too much space between these different sections that it's a little hard for me to follow exactly what you want me to do in this. I think it could be a little bit tighter and more compact, in my opinion.

Matthew Smith: What I would say the main thing for me is, I'm not sure what's happening. I'm not sure what's going on. They're trying to be personalized, but this is the thing that I want right here. If all the email did was to say, want a free year of Gelato Messina, and then, free Messina for a year, and this. I think that would have been a much more effective email. This one section and increase the font size here, and make it all one paragraph. I bet you could have focused on one thing and got that out the door and it would be effective.

Matt Helbig: This one is for Oporto Australia. They're asking if there's too much text, and is the black background okay? For me, this GIF took a long time to load. That's my only feedback. I like the personalization up top on that little bar. I think that's a nice touch.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I think that if the GIF could be a little bit faster, it would feel better, but I like what it's trying to do. Center text of this length is tough, but at least it's large enough to make it readable. I think that these images make it hard to understand what is happening, so I'd almost leave them out, or figure out how to communicate it a little bit more clearly. Overall, I think it's working fine. If you could make the top of the email darker, so that it lined up with this dark, I think I’d do that. Right now, it goes from white to dark to light, and that kind of adds noise for me.

Matt Helbig: The last one I want to look at is this last email. They would love some advice on CTAs, and the connection between the story and the CTA. Is there a clear connection? They're focused on storytelling, but sometimes it makes it tough to connect the story with the ways that people can help. 

Matthew Smith: Sure. Charity Water is a well-known brand and a brand that, because of the founders and what they've done with design in the past, I have high expectations for, and this doesn't feel in line with that.

The scalability of this copy makes it so that it's hard for me to read the story. I like the idea of okay, get healthy, focus, and these bullet points that are done uniquely, but it ends up being hectic, almost like a collage instead of a story. To me, don't knock the simplicity of some well-crafted, simple copy. The center text is always going to be super hard to read, it's very small, even on mobile I think it's small. 

Charity Water photography is incredible, and we get it up top, but these cropped photos are hard to see, and don't celebrate that. Then, the CTA is low down here. I know that I can join the spring, but I don't know what that means.

Some simplifying, bigger text, and clearer copy. If it were me, I would look at some emails from, I think MailChimp does well with good, big copy. I think Everlane does a nice job with good photography and copy. What other brands for you, Matt, tell the story with photography and copy well?

Matt Helbig: I think Moment, which we’ve looked at before on the show, does a great job with that, really focusing on the CTAs and making them actionable. I think there is a better way to tell this story where you say something like healthy, and show a picture to back up that word, healthy. I think there's a way to lay this out that's a bit longer.

It gets people excited a little bit more about donating for their New Year's resolution, that is a cool campaign message. I think this could tell that story better and make people more excited for that cause. This feels a little generic or lengthy in my mind.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I agree. 

Matt Helbig: Alright. Sweet, well thanks so much for joining us for 100 episodes of Feedback Friday.

Matthew Smith: It's been an awesome time and I'm looking forward to the next one. As usual, keep submitting these emails and let us know if you like this format and we can do this kind of thing again.

Matt Helbig: Awesome. Well, have a great Friday, Matthew. 

Matthew Smith: You too buddy, we'll talk soon.

Matthew Smith: Another happy Friday to you, Matt Helbig.

Matt Helbig: What\'s up Matthew Smith? What\'s up Email Geeks! Welcome back to another Feedback Friday!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/XxRwIxjSSkE

Matthew Smith: It\'s good to be here, my friend. Good to be here. Hey dude, I am a family guy. I\'ve got three kids, and so this brand caught my eye recently. This is A Kids Book About, and they\'ve got kids books about everything, and it\'s awesome.

You can see down here they\'ve got kids\' books about racism, belonging, creativity, feminism, depression, money, cancer, body image, anxiety, gratitude, adventure, failure. Pretty awesome stuff. I\'m ordering these books for my kiddos and I\'ve got a little eight year old girl, and I think this is perfect for her.

My boys need something a little bit more advanced, but this is just great for young kids. Their emails are a great example, I think of a really standardized template simply done in a fantastic way. So this is actually a really pretty basic template that they\'ve just used really smart photography on. So if we go up top, this is a header image, probably with a background color over on this left side, and they\'ve just chosen to left align this part.

They\'ve got their text here in a basic font that\'s available on your system, and then they\'ve got their logo. They introduce with just a normal body text, which in this case works, especially because they lead with this image. So it kind of has the right balance. They get this fantastic imagery in there that draws this color down into the next part and already I\'m like, Whoa, what\'s, this is cool.

I want to see these things. I see these, this big type, and I\'m interested, I can read a little bit about the story, and I can see this imagery that accompanies this paragraph and in a really nice, simple way, right? It\'s nice and white background and just illustrates what\'s going on. I don\'t need to know what\'s in this image. It just kind of feels like \\"Our story\\".

And then \\"The Mission\\" and you start seeing the mission is related to the kids. It\'s about people. And that feels good, right? And then you get this sense of who the team is made up of. And it\'s these cute little kids together that maybe are adults now and it feels fantastic.

And then you get this full exposure of all these different books, feeling really colorful, so many titles and things to look at. And then you can learn more. I think they\'ve done a really nice job in this. They finish it off with a centered footer. I think that works.

They have these social icons. So the critiques for this email for me are I think that maybe you could lead up here with some larger intro copy to kind of create something that you can read very easily, especially from a distance that kind of catches your eye and really gets in there quickly. That would feel like it accompanies this lead image.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/thanks-for-signing-up-book/

And then I think the other thing I would do is there\'s no CTA here, why isn\'t there a CTA? Go check out our books right here. I understand they\'d probably want to lead people down through the imagery, but I think there\'s a real opportunity to put a CTA there or to put a CTA even on the image. Maybe they have a video on their site and they could show the video there.

Lots of opportunity up top and then this \\"Learn more\\" as a pretty soft CTA, soft action. I think they could definitely follow that up with something a little bit more specific, like buy three of our books and get the fourth free, or some discount or something and then the button for some reason is a little tight there. It needs a little bit more space.

We\'ve talked about social icons a bunch. I feel like this is just saying we are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and link I think means website probably, but that\'s just a convention that has been like held over. I\'ve put them in emails before and the more that we talk about it, it just doesn\'t serve the customer very well.

So instead, why not show a little bit of content from Facebook or show a little content from Twitter or from Instagram? That way you\'re giving somebody a taste of what they can get there and they\'re much more likely to engage The information there is fine. I think that it\'s nice to have that in a footer i suppose. I have yet to ever get an address from somebody\'s email footer, but I suppose that\'s just a convention that has been passed down.

Matt Helbig: That\'s for CAN-SPAM Act compliance. You need a valid postal address to be in your message.

Matthew Smith: See, I\'m all about the design, not about the protocols. Well, there you go. There you have it. Thank you for being the expert in that space, Matt Helbig.

Matt Helbig: That\'s what I\'m here for.

Matthew Smith: That\'s awesome. Yeah. What\'s this unsubscribed link? They don\'t need that. I\'m showing my true colors there, but from a design perspective, from a serving the customer perspective, they do a great job. And yeah, I\'ve been happy. What do you think Mr. Helbig?

Matt Helbig: Just from that footer, this email is probably a MailChimp template.

Matthew Smith: Yep. That\'s what I was thinking.

Matt Helbig: I think they do a really good job of using color and using imagery to really spice up this basic template. I am curious about this Z pattern in this email.

I feel like it\'s something that I even struggle with as an email marketer to really include that. I feel like it\'s something that I tend to stay away from. So I\'m interested what you think about including a Z pattern in your email and how it works on desktop and mobile.

Matthew Smith: So a couple of thoughts there, and I\'m glad you brought it up. So it works here in particular because there\'s so much white space. So if these were filled in and really blocky. It\'s too much and your eye is like bam, bam, bam, having to move really hard. Right now the imagery just adds to it. It\'s small and it gets out of the way, but we\'re really focused on, these content blocks and that really helps a ton.

So being able to have. Just that white space, that\'s a priority. So if you\'re going to do that, make it something that\'s interesting. Like if these were just icons, boring, not helpful, like one color icons, but if they\'re like little illustrations or or pictures like this, it works really well and I think that\'s fine.

Now, one thing that I would say over here on mobile that could be better is they have \\"Our story\\" and it makes sense why they have so much padding here because of the image they had to use over here. But honestly, it should be closer. And then you come down here and \\"Our story\\" feels related to this little girl, but really that\'s supposed to be related to \\"Our mission\\".

So you want to create connection between an image and its content, right? And that\'s missing here. It works here. But then here you\'re like, wait, which image belongs to which? The spacing is too similar to what you call an uncanny valley where you\'re not quite sure which one it belongs to, and so that\'s something you want to solve for it.

That\'s a real nit-picky thing. Again, one of the values why I think this email is doing a great job is they took a very basic template. And they made it really work. So this is a good example of being able to operate within tight constraints and make something amazing.

Matt Helbig: Well, I\'m a big fan of this one. Thanks for sending it over.

https://reallygoodemails.com/mtthlbg/collections/IKKGhg6jCoRNouvmj0xA/

Matthew Smith: Sweet. All right, well, don\'t forget to get your butts to UNSPAM this year. It\'s March 12th and 13th in Greenville, South Carolina. You can check out information at unspam.reallygoodemails.com we\'d love to have you there. Last year was an amazing event, with just so much good feelings for everybody all throughout. Can\'t wait to do it again this year.

Matt Helbig: I\'ll be there, I promise.

Matthew Smith: I think I\'ll go

Matt Helbig: Have a good weekend!

This week we look at A Kids Book About\'s welcome email.

How do you serve your audience with software product announcements? This week, we look at how Adobe\'s emails spotlight bold fonts, animations, and creative illustrations to show their software products in action.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. When you\'re laying out the email, make sure the contrast is high enough that you can read the content on desktop and mobile. Be careful with thin-weighted fonts. Make the font size large enough for the reader to easily scan the text on any device.

2. Don’t include your full legal policies in the email footer. Instead, link to landing pages with the legal content. Talk to your legal team about this. Legal content in the footer can feel like the content is about the company instead of the reader. Remove any obstacles that aren’t serving the audience.

3. GIFs can show off what\'s possible. Add GIFs with just a few frames and smaller file sizes (ideally 500kb) to keep the email light and easy on the loading time.

BONUS: If you don\'t have enough of a design pattern to indicate a link without color, work with your formatting for accessibility purposes. Underline the text, consider semi-bold text, and/or add a symbol to indicate a link (ex: single right-pointing angle quotation mark).

Matthew Smith: Happy Feedback Friday, everybody. Email geeks. It\'s great to be back with Kelly from the Really Good Emails team. Thanks for being here, Kelly. How\'s it goin\'?

Kelly Lamano: It\'s going pretty great. It\'s finally cooling down in Florida. We\'re usually in the seventies and eighties. So, we\'re dropping down to the sixties or so. It\'s finally sweater weather, which I love.

Matthew Smith: I like the sound of that. Yeah, usually Florida\'s a little too hot for me. I mean, even here in South Carolina, I get pretty miserable and can\'t wait to get back to Colorado as soon as possible.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/hB2vRxNTdGw

Matthew Smith: We\'re going to be digging into some Adobe Creative Cloud here today. These are really interesting. I\'ve been following Adobe\'s stuff through Behance quite a bit, and then saw some of these come through. And they\'re really striking. Really interesting. What do you think is working well here?

Kelly Lamano: The font - it\'s front and center. It\'s beautiful. It\'s huge. \\"Go for the bold,\\" it makes a really bold statement. And I think just that alone is really cool. Both on mobile and on desktop, I think it works really well. And it sets you up for what exactly the email is about. Adobe is all about design and fonts and being creative. And I think that this is a really great way to draw the reader in.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I think it\'s interesting the way that they create something that is exciting from the beginning. Some clear, clean text, also live text, the ability to download that font. And then they get me into this next piece, which is all about getting that app, figuring out what you can do with Adobe products.

And then a footer reminding me this is creativity for all, which I think is a pretty rad statement. They have this kind of long legal text that I would love to see something like that. Especially in a big company like Adobe, you can put these links there and bigger, crazier products than Adobe have found out that legally, you can put stuff on pages that don\'t need to be in your footer.

This feels like it\'s about Adobe, not about me, the user. So, anything that we can do to remove any obfuscation between what\'s serving me as a user and instead of what\'s serving the company. Talk to your legal team, see what you can do to get your legal text refined and minified.

But overall, I think this is working well. Let\'s jump over to some other emails that they\'re doing and see how they compare.

Once again, we\'ve got live text, which is great, especially over a background. Very nice. One thing that is challenging here that I\'m noticing is we\'ve got this secondary \\"learn more\\" sitting over an image. It works a little bit here on this cloud in desktop, but on mobile, that\'s really hard to see. So, when you are laying things out, especially this text here on mobile, make sure that the contrast is high enough that you\'re really able to view it.

Also, one thing that a lot of people neglect is, this is a light or a thin weight on this font, and that\'s actually quite difficult to read at smaller sizes. So, if you\'re going to use a thin or a lightweight font, you need to make sure it\'s at a large enough size where I can easily read it. There\'s not enough material there for the eye to easily scan it. And especially over the background like this, it makes it even that much more difficult. So, be careful with that.

As we move down, one of the things I think is working really well and very interesting here is this idea of having these images come off the edge. I really like how Adobe\'s dark background brings my eye right to this center place. Then, what a cool way to use a GIF to show off what\'s possible here in this section talking about Photoshop.

Now that said, seeing how long this GIF is and all that it\'s doing, I am going to imagine that that\'s a big GIF. Keep your eye on the file size on your GIFs. Make sure that they\'re, ideally, 500K or less. That\'s already quite big. See what you can do to keep those things small, but obviously, it also depends on your audience.

Then, we get down here into Illustrator and seeing some of what\'s possible here. And again, down with Photoshop, just a nice way of taking me through those Suites of what\'s possible. Finishing with Document Cloud, and then dream bigger, which I think is cool. The idea of getting into their Cloud services and learn more.

I think this is overall working pretty well. It\'s an organized email. It tells a good story and it gets out of the way, lets you jump in on those CTAs. What do you think could be improved in this email, Kelly?

Kelly Lamano: Yeah. You made a good point about the GIF because I was wondering why they didn\'t use more throughout to show the different programs, but then, because there\'s that one huge GIF right there, that makes up for all of it.

I would\'ve liked to see a little bit more interactivity throughout the emails. So, if they do it with one, I would like to see it with another one, maybe a smaller GIF. One other thing is going back to those CTAs, if they\'re going to be very minimal like this, maybe underline them. Underline the \\"learn more\\" and switch up the verbiage there too so they\'re not all \\"learn more,\\" maybe \\"get creative\\" or \\"start creating,\\" \\"start editing,\\" or something like that. That would be cool to see.

Matthew Smith: One thing that a lot of people miss is, imagine if your email was black and white and if you don\'t have enough pattern of a design pattern to indicate that that\'s a link without color, then you\'re missing something.

I do think this carrot here, Chevron, however you want to say that, that helps quite a bit. Gives it just enough. And it\'s also this semi-bold, which helps, but I think to your point, they could go one step further and I think that would help quite a bit. So let\'s jump over to some others and see how they\'re comparing.

Same use of typography, same buttons, pretty rad GIF, visually very cool Black Friday email. So they\'re telling me a little bit about it. One thing that I think is not working as well here is it does tell me Black Friday, but saving 25%, I think, is one of the most important things about this entire email.

And it\'s the smallest text they have other than legal down here. From my perspective, I would love to see that nice and bold and clear because that\'s one of the strongest parts of the sale. What else would you change, Kelly?

Kelly Lamano: Yeah, I agree that 25% is one of the most important parts. So, making that larger.

Something that I liked was the animation and also like the fact that you can call Adobe. That\'s very rare with big corporations. I liked that the email is short and sweet and it kind of creates urgency, but I would also like to see the \\"offer ends tonight\\" bigger.

If I\'m looking at the email at a quick glance, I\'ll just be like, \\"Okay. You know, I have time,\\" Because it\'s such small text, I might just breeze over it. So maybe making that expiration date larger as well.

Matthew Smith: From my perspective, the order goes \\"Black Friday,\\" \\"Going, going almost gone,\\" \\"Buy now.\\" \\"Offer ends tonight.\\" That\'s the order I read them in and see them in. And then these pieces, which are actually quite important and these get almost entirely lost.

The text is a little bit bigger on mobile, which is helpful. I really feel like for a company like Adobe, I would love to see a little bit stronger design aesthetic and hierarchy in their emails to really show off what\'s possible. Overall, I think these have some strong strategy and some good aesthetic. Pretty stoked to see them.

All right. Email geeks, stay healthy, stay happy. Be really good. Make sure to take care of your neighbors. We\'re in a hard time, everybody. So, anything you can do to just be part of the great community, keep it up. Let us know what we can do to add new brands that you would like to see or you\'d like to see us review.

Don\'t forget to subscribe to our channel and keep the love going around and talk to you soon. Bye.

Aero is a luxury travel company providing first-class private air travel from the lounge to the jet.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Simplifying your email can give you the opportunity to keep track of how your emails are performing before you make any changes to the design.

2. Think of a travel email as an invitation for your audience to learn more. The email doesn\'t have to be complicated, and the website can do the selling.

3. Explain the details of what you\'re promoting and the features you offer in a clear way. For example, lead into a section with icons (the airplane seats in this Aero email), and then explain the feature in a short paragraph below the icons.

Matthew Smith: It\'s Feedback Friday, everybody. Wassup? 

Matt Helbig: Welcome back to another episode of Feedback Friday. 

Matthew Smith: Yeah. I\'m excited about talking through the qualities of emails with you, Matt Helbig. Good to see you again. It\'s been a minute. 

Matt Helbig: Yeah. This one popped up in my inbox. I thought it would be worth talking about.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/9G0Qfz7F5Gs

Matthew Smith: Yeah. Tell me more. 

Matt Helbig: I was just shopping around for a private jet. This is a luxury travel company. They have some simplistic use of live text. They use very simplistic colors of their logo throughout the emails and some stunning photography. It just really brought me in.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/welcome-to-aero/

Matthew Smith: They do an interesting job of getting you right in there pretty fast. They\'re using simple typography. These blocks to call out actions. It\'s a little bit much for me to have black, gray, gray on black, white on black, this big black block. Oh, now gray block with orange in it, but it\'s just a highlight. It\'s not an actual CTA. You know, those kinds of things.

It gets me down to a CTA at the very bottom, for \\"Contact Us\\", but that one\'s a CTA and this one\'s not. Some things are effective. One of the things that I continue to talk to people about is to simplify your emails. Get simple faster. It moves the design forward to just stay simple and get your typography right. 

From a typography perspective, I think they\'re doing some interesting things here. I think the mobile works better than the desktop in this version. Think about this email for a minute. If this big black block wasn\'t there, just the ways that that might be different. THey\'re trying to solve a problem. They\'re trying to call this out. That\'s one way to do it,

Imagine it without the photography. It would just be a completely different email and would not work nearly as well. So I think you\'re right. The imagery is really important and they\'re using it well. Should we jump to the next one and see what else is going on? 

Matt Helbig: Sure.

Matthew Smith: It looks like you\'ve signed up, which is awesome. Little do they know that you\'re not going to buy a jet on Really Good Email money. So what is it about this one that caught your eye? 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/set-your-sights-on-summer/

Aero\'s simplicity puts the focus on clean design and clear CTAs in this summer email. The personable copy gets right to the point in an optimistic tone.

Matt Helbig: I think the ticket price for a single seat on their jet is over a thousand dollars. So it\'s almost like a weird thing to be selling in an email. I just liked, especially this mobile view of simplistic and with the left aligned text and the use of live text. 

The double repeating CTAs, I think works for this. I like the little icons with the seats. So to me, it\'s just a very simple paired down email compared to some other travel emails that we might\'ve seen from airlines showing a lot of different images. 

This one just seems very clean. I think they maybe know who their customer is and they don\'t need to like be sold really on this service. Either you want to fly in a private jet or you don\'t. 

Matthew Smith: One of the things that I would say from a brand perspective is, on the one hand, I like the emails because of how simple they are. On the other hand, I feel like a brand like this has an opportunity. Look how sleek this black jet is. That\'s amazing. 

Why not go with like a dark theme, kind of more refined email? That\'s a big question I\'ve got. It seems like something like that would be aesthetically more in line with their audience and somebody ready to plop down $1000, $2000, $3,000 a flight to very specific places.

They only fly four places currently. So they\'re out of the gate, right? Like this is a brand new startup. If I\'m not mistaken. Is that kind of the idea? 

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I think so. Yeah. 

Matthew Smith: Yeah, it\'s some interesting things, but again, one of the things that they\'re doing here is they\'re just keeping it really, really, really simple.

It\'s amazing how often teams just get their emails too complicated, too fast. They can work on their style. I\'m going to guess they\'re trying to look at, are these emails performing as we need them to, before they do anything else. Which I think is an interesting move. 

This is a similar one, the template set that they\'ve got. This is a design system in the simplest possible way to think about it, right?

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/its-launch-day-10-off-bookings-for-the-next-3-days/

Like you have these blocks. This \\"Hi there,\\" block with a subheading in gray and you can see they use it here and they use it up here as well. These blocks just get repeated. The difference would be this one has a white background versus this one has a slightly gray background. So it\'s just interesting. They\'ve got just a straightforward way of moving people through this stuff. I think that\'s fascinating.

So this last one was about Ibiza and just gets a little bit more into some of the details of safety. I think this is an interesting case. I\'m super curious to see what our audience thinks. What do you think are going to be their main questions? 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/hello-travel-my-old-friend/

Matt Helbig: I\'m not sure how to impact this more.

You could add some more stuff, but then it might start feeling a little bit cluttered. Maybe this is a good example of letting someone know that, Hey, Ibiza is calling you. Maybe they\'re using their website a bit more to sell, and this is just an invitation to go learn more about their service.

Like you said, the email doesn\'t have to be super complicated. Maybe it is just a notification. That top of mind awareness to bring someone back or let them know that you are still traveling. 

Matthew Smith: I wonder how often these things are getting sent and some of that, but I think one of the things that I am noting here is like, they keep promoting these feature sets per email, but they don\'t tend to repeat them.

So for instance, Your next vacation a way to avoid crowds. This is like one feature. Then the next time they\'ve got another feature, just sort of the places that they\'re going. Then the next time they\'ve got safety. So instead of putting safety, a variety of places, that kind of thing in one email, they separated up and hit you in some different ways.

It\'s just an interesting strategy. One of the main things that I would probably do is with an airline like this that is really about developing that sense of wanting to go that sort of like hunger to go and the ability, the financial ability to go. I think that the brand needs to get more refined.

Like this Aero brand that\'s hot. I like that. It\'s this idea of a sunset. Inside an airplane window. 

Matt Helbig: Oh, I just got that. Wow. 

Matthew Smith: That\'s hot. I want to travel to cool places and see sunsets in cool places. Look at me, I\'m on an airplane. I think that to appeal to that audience, they will need to like step it up a little bit.

Think about Tracksmith\'s emails. Those don\'t feel like Old Navy shorts. They\'re legit. I\'m wearing a pair right now. They\'re just refined, you know? They\'re more expensive too, but they\'re high quality.

I think you\'re going to need to start to sell the little details of what you\'re selling, not just a flight. It is nice to avoid the crowds, especially these days, right? Like that\'s a selling point, but I would promote it a little bit more clearly, I think.

We talked about this not long ago, but on Really Good Emails, you can go click the code on an email detail page, and then you can go see that code. This is a great example for you to go see this code and then go and take it and change it. So it\'s not copying and then play with it, learn from it, make it your own.

This is a great example of a very simple template that you could go and learn from and use and try things with. This is the kind of simplified approach that I think could work well for somebody out of the gate. Like just needing to get information out like this is. Pretty generic, I think is a good word, but it\'s doing enough of the job. I think the change that could happen in this email is the next 10 to 15%. A lot of it is already there. 

Well Really Good Emails folks. We love you. You\'re such a great community. Thanks for being out there. Let us know who you want to see on Feedback Friday or who you think we should be talking to.

We will see you out there. Bye.

Matt Helbig: Peace. 

Airbnb is a vacation rental company that offers online booking arrangements for lodging, homestays, and tourism experiences.

This FF episode was sponsored by Email Monks.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Using imagery with personalized data can celebrate customer appreciation, making your audience feel closer to your company and the community.

2. Create a clear hierarchy for scannable text. Use big, bold headings followed by subheading text and then illustrations or icons with chunks of info to help balance the content. This structure can help lead your audience into your message.

3. Make your social share ask compelling. Provide stats, include a fun GIF, create interesting content. Give your audience a reason to post your company news on social media in a way where it’s a natural share.

Matthew Smith: Well , Matt Helbig and Email Geeks its another Friday another Feedback Friday.

Matt Helbig: What\'s up?

Matthew Smith: I\'m such a big fan really like fanboy fan of what Airbnb has been doing for a long time and their emails. They and Pinterest I think are always pushing the limits of what\'s possible.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Ah97l-u0o5U

This week just like last week, I want to talk about some things that are happening that are actually in this really really good category where things are interesting, they\'re doing great personalization, they\'re doing great typography, good design. It\'s intelligent and it serves the customer.

I got this email. You know, I\'m a host and really interested in building more. I\'m going to add another one this year and hopefully some more in the coming years and I was watching this little GIF here play out over and over and then it dawned on me wait.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/youre-a-superhost/

View the Live Email
\\n Edit on CodePen

This little coin this little badge actually shows up in South Carolina and I\'m thinking hey, that\'s where I live. It\'s like oh damn, they actually do that intentionally. And so this is a unique GIF for me. It\'s subtle. They don\'t even point that out. And in fact, I would argue they could probably point out a little better.

Maybe they didn\'t because if they get it wrong, it looks bad but in this way if I catch it\'s freaking cool, right.

Matt Helbig: I\'m impressed. Even if it\'s not it\'s still a very nice GIF. But yeah, that\'s like a interesting level personalization.

Matthew Smith: I hadn\'t thought about it until we started talking about it.

I wonder if that\'s why they left the text off about it being, you know your space in South Carolina. I guess they should know because it\'s being sent to me based on my ID based on my booking. The question would be what how what do they do if I\'ve got bookings in different states? I don\'t know, but regardless I was pretty impressed. I would venture to guess that for most Airbnb hosts, they have one or two places in one city, but this is very cool. And also note that the map when it\'s further out into the world. All those little dots are places from people that have stayed at my Airbnb.

Matt Helbig: This is like what people should be using this image personalization for. We always see like hey FNAME. That works okay, but this stuff is really like surprise and delight sort of stuff.

Matthew Smith: That\'s right. It feels intentional. It feels thoughtful. It feels connecting to me. The other thing too is I think that there\'s probably a business for somebody to start right here, which is developing motion graphics that can be converted into video or GIFs or other things that is personalized.

It\'s using data but being able to translate that to email and or our friends at NiftyImages could develop something like this. They\'re obviously doing so much personalization in e-mail already. If you haven\'t used NiftyImages, we definitely recommend it. It\'s a really interesting tool to create or to utilize this kind of thing.

Not this sort of level of motion graphics, but using imagery with personalized data. It\'s fascinating stuff. So as we keep going one of the things that I really like about this email is we\'ve talked about it before but it\'s just real clear hierarchy and everything is in text.

Airbnb. They already have a Sans serif font to start with so they can utilize some basic system fonts without having to go cuckoo. I think probably this lightweight. It might be a system finally didn\'t do inspector, but just right off the bat like they\'re just taking care of those details and it keeps their emails pretty light.

I imagine that GIF up top is fairly heavy size-wise. So some these things keep the email size for the kilobytes low. They\'re just doing a great job of leading me and telling me what\'s what if all I want to do is just see this. Wow, that\'s neat. Okay, I can react to it right here. And that\'s kind of fun.

Matt Helbig: Those social share things are a lot more compelling than emails we\'ve seen in the past that ask you to share right away. They really provided you some cool stats a fun GIF. Now I\'m really motivated to share this with my network.

Matthew Smith: That\'s a really good point Matt is it\'s really interesting when there\'s more of an opportunity to say.

Hey here is this interesting information. Would you like to share i? Rather than share. And like what am I sharing ? It\'s almost like somebody walking up to you and be like, hey, hey Matt, it\'s nice to see here for lunch. Will you yell out to everybody how much fun you\'re having but we just we haven\'t even started lunch.

Like what are you talking about? It\'s weird. So why would we do that? So instead create enough content create enough interest where that\'s just a natural enjoyment where somebody would want to share. Hey look at all the cool places I\'ve had guests from. That kinda stuff. Digging in, again, we\'ve talked about this with the Coinbase email last week, but really great simple heading hierarchy so darker and bold and bigger headings and then a nice subheading or subtext that goes across the view and kind of create some balance and then just really simple little chunks of information again, when we use headings we create scannable content, right?

So oh marketing to guests that interests me, or maybe it doesn\'t. Social Spotlight meh don\'t care. Ohh Airbnb magazine. Yep. I want to read more about that. Tell me more So that scan-ability helps me to pretty quickly decide. What do I want to read? What do I don\'t? I don\'t have to digest the entire thing.

Which for a busy person like. Yeah, man. I get bored easily. I have some ADD and I\'m like, I don\'t think so. I\'m not going to read this too much to read so scan-ability helps a ton. Illustrations, icons, they just feel like they all belong. They\'re all the same type and then like what we talked about last week.

You\'ve got nice white space between these I would even increase that if it were me by another 10 pixels or something like that between these just for a little bit more breathability. Now the heading really helps like create. Okay. This is the next chunk of information and the fact that the space underneath social Spotlight here is less than what\'s above it that makes all the difference. That\'s really all you need. But again, I would probably increase it just a little bit.

Matt Helbig: My only feedback in that section would be I thought there would be links on each of these sections but that bottom. if you\'re going to mention Airbnb magazine maybe link to it or something, but I think that bottom kind of catch-all link that says, the Superhost week. yeah, definitely captures all those points and probably puts you to a nice landing page.

Matthew Smith: Yeah. That\'s a good point. Some of this stuff isn\'t real actionable, but I wonder if they could say like we did last year or like this article we wrote and those kinds of things right? I think learn more about this change and Superhost week. I would have put a little bit stronger CTA. On something like that, but maybe somebody along the line said now that\'s too strong to do a button.

One thing that I\'ve noticed that Airbnb has is they have a design system. So they\'re extremely tight about the topography which means that they\'re able to create and send their emails much more rapidly They are worrying more about content rather than how it looks because they figured out the system for how it should look so that\'s pretty cool.

Matt Helbig: Yeah. I really like that sign up. There\'s a lot of really great copy throughout this entire email. It\'s really thoughtful it seems like. As you said, I think a lot of their emails are built on that same templating system. They all feel really consistent across both the host and the guest side. They all feel very thought out and mindful.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, that\'s right as we mentioned last week. I\'m impressed with a big company like this not having a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo in the bottom. That\'s always something that I think is really valuable if Airbnb can do it without a bunch of legal. So can you. If legal on your team says you need a bunch of copy see if you can get away with just linking to the legal on your site.

I think that is my hypothesis. I have no legal background. My hypothesis based on working at a lot of big startups is that legal just needs to be available. It doesn\'t have to be readable in that email. So don\'t obfuscate it. Don\'t try and hide it make it a clear link, but there\'s other opportunities.

And again, it\'s more kind to your visitor. It\'s more thoughtful. They can see the legal if they need to because most of that legal is not about the customer. It\'s not actually serving them. It\'s just covering the companies butt. Cover your butt in the back room not in front of everybody. Well, maybe that doesn\'t work out.

I don\'t know maybe that metaphor falls apart. Cover your butt all the time probably but just in real life, not legally.

Matt Helbig: The entire idea behind this email is customer appreciation. Airbnb doesn\'t seem to have a business goal in this entire thing. They want you to share on, Twitter and maybe get some additional hosts to sign up that way or something like that.

But this is a just a very customer centric email to send its really celebrating the Superhosts and their community and everything else. Compared to a lot of the other promotional emails that we see people do or things around holidays. This is just a celebration of Superhosts and building Airbnb as a brand and they do that super successfully with this email

Matthew Smith: 100% I think you\'re right. As a Superhost I\'ve been really thankful for the way that they treat us. It\'s a lot of hard work to get there and to maintain that but it\'s worth it. It\'s good for them to support those of us who try harder and like push it further, but you feel it you feel well supported. So this is cool.

Matt Helbig: They have so many ways to communicate with you and it\'s interesting that they pick email pretty consistently to communicate a lot of these messages to you. They have the app. They have the web everything else but I think their focus on email especially definitely stands out compared to a lot of other brands .

Matthew Smith: I hadn\'t thought of that until you said that but you\'re absolutely right. I don\'t get any of these kinds of messages in app. This is the way they communicate to me. They do have a all-hands-on-deck host community event where you can watch online and I\'ve not done that I\'d like to but this is how I learn about that too.

It\'s funny to hear people always talk about like email some day going to die and I just think no. We haven\'t even hit our stride. There\'s so much opportunity and the more that people communicate thoughtfully like this more I believe that. All right dude have a great weekend. We\'ll see you next week.

Matt Helbig: Great. See ya.

Matthew Smith: Chow.

This FF episode was sponsored by Netcore. Revolutionize email experiences with the only email delivery platform that leverages AI to power deliverability and increased customer engagement.

Kelly Lamano: Hey there Email Geeks! Welcome back to another episode of Feedback Friday. This week we\'ve got a special guest, Aysha Marie Zouain. She\'s a senior consultant specializing in Salesforce Marketing Cloud at Deloitte Digital. Welcome, Aysha, how are you?

Aysha Marie Zouain: Hi, doing good, doing good. Happy to be here. 

Kelly Lamano: Yeah, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Aysha Marie Zouain: I am a designer-developer strategy combo. That’s what I do at Deloitte Digital currently. I play all day in Content Builder, but I also work with others and train them into doing awesome work all over the platform. Whether it\'s in automations, cloud pages, or anything else like that.

Kelly Lamano: You\'re also involved in Women of Email too?

Aysha Marie Zouain: Yes, I am now a board member, but I\'ve been with Women of Email now for four years. I’ve been a board member for about three. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/UuwNPsmxZpY

Kelly Lamano: That\'s great. Email is a great way to meet people and share different experiences too and different backgrounds.

Today we\'re going to talk about some of your work as an email developer with Apartment Guide, which falls under RentPath. Tell us a little bit about your experience there and the different versions of the emails that you created.

Aysha Marie Zouain: On a day-to-day basis, I would get different projects coming in from different departments, and they would send them via our project management software. I know that we hopped around several different ones and I think we were on Asana. We would get different requests from stakeholders. We had a very strict form that asked, ”How do you want this to look? What\'s the cadence? Do you have the art files? Do you want it to be done by the email developer?”. Generally, I didn\'t have enough time to do the design. Occasionally I did do it, but for the most part, I was far too busy to be doing any design work anymore. 

This one, I’ll be showing iteration number one, and then iteration number two. I believe now it is on iteration number three, I just haven\'t checked recently for Apartment Guide. Generally, I worked on three brands, but because RentPath itself had an overarching brand, I would say it was four brands within RentPath that I worked on.

Kelly Lamano: Tell us a little bit about this first version here.

Aysha Marie Zouain: For version one, if you look at the backend of the code, I based it out of Cerberus, and I learned quite a bit. 

We put different things in here. I like to start with a good base template, and then code it to make it my own. With this template, the ask was very little. This version was very basic. They wanted something like a cityscape. This content team requested a blog email that would be coming out as a newsletter every week, and this was the welcome series. The welcome series was only one email, and I hope that it expanded. If not, it was what it was, but this was the first version of it. 

It had different copy compared to version two, and a slightly different style. This version sets you up to know how the cadence is because it says, “Look for an email once a week”. We talk about what the subject is going to be about, besides just being a renter. We talk about amenities, smart apartments, and what kind of streaming services are the best. Also, this was before the site was redesigned. Once the site was redesigned and deployed, that’s why we did a second version.

Kelly Lamano: Sounds like as the website was updated so were the email templates to keep it consistent across the channels.

Aysha Marie Zouain: Yeah. We had something called “My Saved Places” and “Manage My Preferences”. I had just started learning how to do hover, so that was the first time I dipped my toes into doing more interesting stuff with my code.

Kelly Lamano: Yeah, that\'s a nice effect there. A subtle sort of surprise for the subscriber.

Aysha Marie Zouain: Yeah. I know that it changes significantly. At the bottom, you also have the Equal Opportunity Housing disclaimer. I think it\'s awesome and really important that companies like RentPath make sure that they show that they are because it kind of puts the user at ease to know they have an equal opportunity. The company itself was very much invested in us always needing to have that in our emails because we are always advocating for everyone to have an equal housing opportunity. RentPath has an arm for volunteering that I\'ve always enjoyed, and it shows in some of the content that we post, or at least when I was a part of it.

Kelly Lamano: Let\'s hop over to version two.

Aysha Marie Zouain: This one I feel is a lot stronger. I wanted to make it even fancier, it was my own idea to keep it updated. I told the team, “Hey guys, why don\'t we keep it more like the way that the site looks”, and they agreed. It\'s not the real money driver, it’s more just nice to have. The main driver was the transactional emails. 

Specifically, this was nice to have, but at the same time, this was also the unifying kind of codebase that you can see here. We had already done a design system with Trendline and this was using part of their base code. I customized it so if I ever did something cool, I could bring that over to other templates and swap in anything else I wanted. Everything was table-based, so it wasn\'t “TDTR”, it was “Table Table Table, Table”. You can easily make it modular and even though TDTR’s is modular, we had the preference to make it into tables. That\'s how I built this one out and customized it to make it look like the branding for the new site. 

We still kept the top, everything else from that logo down was of my own making, except for the footer, because the footer was the designers over at Trendline.

Kelly Lamano: It looks like with the copy you also added in a couple of links. In the first version, it looked like it was more text-based, and it didn\'t link out, but here it\'s more specifically linking to “streaming services”, “smart apartments”, and “rent control”. It helps guide the subscriber in that sense.

Aysha Marie Zouain: Yeah, I think the most important thing when you\'re working with teams is that not everyone\'s going to know as much as you, as the email marketer or email developer, or whatever your title is, or specialist. They\'re not quite going to know or appreciate as much as you so you\'re always the educator. Here I was like, “Hey let\'s link it back out to the site so people won\'t completely ignore this little welcome email. Let\'s keep it a little bit more entertaining.” Even though I didn\'t win out the battle of having cool graphics, at least I was able to win them over by saying, “Look, let\'s link out streaming services, smart apartments, and rent control” because those are things that are important to renters, at least in a cursory manner. 

Kelly Lamano: I think you made a great point about being an educator, and how sometimes when you\'re working with companies, they are really looking to you to be that guide, or maybe they don\'t know, “this should be the CTA” or “this is what should we be linking out to”. You come in as an expert saying, “Hey I think that renters would like this, and we might get more engagement” or something like that.

In the instance of building these, what is something that you\'ve carried with you, either something that you learned or something that you would change from building these?

Aysha Marie Zouain: A lot of emails that I created at RentPath gave emails more breathing room than I did before. There\'s a lot more whitespace, but you can digest the content a lot better.

Kelly Lamano: What are some of your favorite resources for coding?

Aysha Marie Zouain: I\'m following a bunch of people on Twitter, that\'s actually what\'s been helping me out more because I\'m not on Email Geek’s Slack quite as much, but I also like to learn from my co-workers. A lot of us are stuck in the trenches and aren\'t famous for what we do, but we\'re still happy to share and learn what we\'ve been experimenting with.

Kelly Lamano: It\'s cool to see the different versions and then hearing the different resources that you use, even after building these, again with the progression of that, and how you learn from other people. I think that we are all in this to where we all share resources and we all kind of cheer each other on, or that\'s the goal. It\'s cool to hear the different resources that you use.

Thanks for sharing everything today, Aysha. Where can we find you outside of Email Geeks and the email world?

Aysha Marie Zouain: You can find my Twitter, @blackenedhonesty. I\'m always sharing either jobs or cool things I found out to do. 

Kelly Lamano: Everyone, go follow Ayesha, support her work. Check out Women of Email. Maybe we\'ll see you on a future episode!

Aysha Marie Zouain: Definitely, and have a good one, everyone. 

Kelly Lamano: Happy Friday. 

Aysha Marie Zouain: Happy Friday.

When your newsletter isn\'t a top priority for your business, does that mean it isn\'t worth having one at all? We chatted with Aysha Marie Zouain, a senior email consultant specializing in Salesforce Marketing Cloud at Deloitte Digital, about why it\'s good to revisit older email strategies from time to time. Just like the housing market, a little remodeling can do wonders for your entire property value (even if all you remodel is your front door).

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, Email Geeks? Welcome back to another episode of Feedback Friday, the show that looks at emails and discusses why they are really good. Today I am joined by Tim from Clyde Golden. How about you introduce yourself, Tim? 

Tim Yeadon: Hey, Matt. Thanks for having me. I am Tim Yeadon with Clyde Golden. We\'re an email marketing agency in Seatle. We\'ve been in about five years now. We\'re just getting started. It\'s still much fun. Every day is just exciting. 

Matt Helbig: We both picked Apple today, a pretty big brand. I\'m nervous. What are your initial thoughts on what Apple does well and what it could improve on?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/32_b6qjqei0

Tim Yeadon: We all know that Apple has a beautiful brand, the products are extremely useful and seamless, and they\'re built for us. What\'s fascinating is the gap analysis between what the product is and how they interpret the brand in email. The landing pages are lovely, and the campaigns are engaging, and then once we get into email, it\'s all over the map.

Matt Helbig: They have so many products. They have their product launch emails, Apple Fitness, iTunes, and Apple TV. So there are a lot of different brands under the Apple brand. Specific emails might get a little bit more attention than others. How many people might be on the marketing team for a big brand like Apple, and how can they keep it consistent across all the different products they offer?

Tim Yeadon: In the end, it\'s all just Apple to me, whether it\'s iTunes or some other sub-brand. I think you remember when you are marketing for a company like this. 

You had set a handful of examples before we chose Apple, and one of them that you had sent was Nike, which deals with a similar scenario, and I thought they handled it well, in which there was always a consistency of that swoosh at the top. While I understood it was Nike, they were bringing in all sorts of different sorts of products and activities as they went. So Apple and Nike, in a certain regard, there\'s a parallel between those two. It\'s interesting to see when they have a campaign for a special event versus rolling out several iPhones they want to talk about. It\'s not easy to do, and it takes some discipline. 

Matt Helbig: Definitely. All right. Well, we picked out three examples to look at. These are the top three most popular and collected ones on the site. 

This lovely animation is here on that Mom\'s Day text. A very subtle animation, but it\'s only right when it loads, which I wish it would repeat every 10 seconds instead. I think this is an excellent way to capture someone\'s eye, but when you\'re adding too much in a GIF, and people wait like 10 seconds to communicate the message, I think that\'s kind of when email marketers go a little bit overboard with GIFs. 

Tim Yeadon: I\'m going to add to that. You have about three seconds from that subject line into the headline, and then if the subject line got me in and the headline doesn\'t load, you\'re likely to bounce onto the following email.

Would you happen to know what\'s cool about this layout? First off, because that CTA is transparent, they can use different colors behind it and get a nice contrast. They\'re bottom aligning the module type from the bottom up. They\'re building up. And so, as I scan, the eye consistently goes to the same place in the module, and it\'s easy to browse.

The type is nice and small. The images are pretty large. I can see the fabric of the band, which is lovely in something like this. This is a Mother\'s Day email, and we\'ve all done things like this. This is a collection of beautiful things for Mom. You\'re not going to have a CTA right at the top. You\'re going to try to get people to bundle. You\'re going to try to get people to come into the site and look around, and you\'re just trying to solve a problem for Mother\'s Day. What should I get for my Mom?

In the subhead, I want to highlight those superscripts and asterisks. Some paragraphs in these have an asterisk and a number everywhere you go. There are claims that they\'re trying to protect, and there\'s a brand team, a campaign team, and a product team, but the actual lead for Apple is the legal team.

Everything you do probably has to go through legal, and they\'re just plastering asterisks all over this thing. So it\'s not very scannable. It\'s a little irritating, and it\'s a little off-putting. We\'ve done lots of emails for banks and financial institutions, and there\'s not half the number of pieces pointing down at these various claims or just specific deals.

Interestingly, a standard message throughout Apple is legal. The legal at the bottom, the small boilerplate. Not a big deal, but I wish there could be a way that there weren\'t just so many superscript numbers and asterisks hiding in the messaging.

Matt Helbig: I like their use of color, breaking up these different sections into different products. Okay, this is their watch. These are accessories. This is another kind of device, and then more accessories. It\'s smart to break these up and still use live text. I know these buttons are images. It would be nice to see them try out a bulletproof button.

I noticed they had this sort of catch-all CTA, which I usually like to see. It\'s done with that plain text and with an underline hover effect.

Tim Yeadon: It\'s a rescue CTA. You could have placed something like that right up top. Some people get this, and they\'re like, right, let\'s look at Apple and see what they have.

Matt Helbig: After this, they transition away from those products to more, I guess, secondary messaging. I was impressed that this is still using live text.

Usually, I would\'ve expected a banner like this. Someone might try to lock it up in an image. They have this fun little headline here, showing why you might want to interact with their site. So this is an exciting way to break out of these quick links at the bottom, like a navigation bar.

I was surprised these were links. I thought they were more like icons supporting the messaging, but it seems like a bottom navigation section.

Tim Yeadon: You need some emotional anchor to the bottom of an email that suggests. We\'re done. This does an excellent job of it.

I would also say the live body copy, \\"Get free no contact delivery for your gift,\\" is centered. It\'s justified center type, which is about the longest amount of center justified type you can safely use and still expect people to read. So you can almost absorb that \\"Trade in an old device and save\\" without actually reading it.

Suppose you have 30 words in there. If you have 80 characters or more, you\'ll need a left-justified body copy so the eye can bounce back and forth and quickly scan. So that\'s something to be careful of, to use center justified type in short, short bursts, tops unless you don\'t want people to read it.

Matt Helbig: This works great for me. I think no more than three lines is what I think the threshold is with the center-aligned text. This section is advanced. It is a three-column layout. You\'re throwing in lots of information, but it\'s still scannable and easy to read.

So I\'d like to drop it down to two or give it more room to breathe. But I think they use white space effectively enough to make this work. 

Tim Yeadon: It\'s my job to get you to the site quickly. It\'s not my job to teach you anything in an email like this. This email\'s a little long. There are a few pieces about three-quarters of the way that don\'t feel like the rest. 

Matt Helbig: We have a product launch email.

Tim Yeadon: Out of all the emails you sent, this one annoyed me the most. The center type up at the very top. The description is a list of features. I\'m still trying to determine if I\'ve read all four lines. I almost need to close an eye to read these things.

Matt Helbig: But there were a few things on this email that I did like. It was interesting to see them use those rounded corners. It softens the imagery and makes these feel like individualized cards.

Tim Yeadon: There\'s an excellent resonance with the shape of the device itself. 

Matt Helbig: Many people say, Oh, I want my emails to be like Apple. You might not have this kind of stunning product photography or the ability to bring in color palettes like this. So I always give them credit for doing their own thing and trying to surprise and delight in the inbox.

This is a long scroll email. I know this is a product launch email, and everyone wants to get their little piece of the pie, something like an email like that, but there\'s just a lot of content within this one. So it may be too much for me.

Tim Yeadon: Someone opens an email, and you have about three seconds to get their attention. You\'ve only got a few more seconds to decide to click through. People will scroll. People on their phone scroll on Reddit all day long. They will scroll to the bottom if interested in an email and the content.

When I say when they\'re too long, or the files are too heavy, and they get clipped, that\'s a fear. But I don\'t fear creating a long, tall skyscraper email that people will wander through and be interested in.

There isn\'t anything wrong with that. Thumbs are strong at this point, and we can scroll forever. And so if you can get them to the bottom, that\'s great. But, unfortunately, most people aren\'t going to the bottom of promotional marketing emails.

Wow. Look at this.

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I know. I was going to say this is like a CVS receipt. It just keeps going.

Tim Yeadon: I kind of like a Marvel movie. I want a module down at the bottom with some joke or something explaining what will happen in the next product launch. So if I got down here, I deserve it.

Matt Helbig: Exactly. All right, we got a fun one for the last email that we\'re going to look at. A little bit of a webinar, too, because this might have been a virtual conference this year. I liked the memoji people and the code reflection in the eyes. That\'s a cool touch.

Some of their event invites are just one large image, but they use live text here, which is fantastic. I like that it takes over the entire email, and I like the dark-themed email. What do you think about this one?

Tim Yeadon: I like the art too. Those are cool. We have a centered body text again, then \\"scroll down for more.\\" I\'m in an email. There\'s nothing else I can do. How about a CTA to register? Yeah, that would be nice right there. You have all of this not quite scannable centered light contrast body copy that\'s pretty small.

I have a copywriting background, and I\'ve written a lot of CTAs. \\"Learn more\\" is the lowest common denominator of CTAs. It doesn\'t ask me to do anything. It\'s like I need a CTA there and \\"learn more.\\" The only thing worse than \\"learn more\\" would be \\"click here\\" because that\'s the only thing you can do with the button is \\"click here,\\" and then that\'s just a mystery of what\'s going to happen afterward.

But realistically, \\"register now\\" is maybe a little bit stronger. If you took this content and placed it into the Mother\'s Day email, I bet it would perform better with short, easy-to-scan blocks. Yeah. In a flow that makes sense with a nice big headline at the top and CTAs designed to get people to do things. It would be fascinating to take the same content and test it.

Matt Helbig: Well, that covers most of the Apple emails. Go on to Really Good Emails and look at other examples. They do a lot with email. It\'s interesting to see the different layouts and content they use to connect with their subscribers.

All right, Tim. Do you have anything to plug? Do you know where we can find you online?

Tim Yeadon: We\'re at clydegolden.com all day, every day. Making great emails.

Matt Helbig: Yeah, you all have great blog posts up there. You have featured Really Good Emails in some blog posts, so give those a look. 

Thank you so much, Tim. It was fantastic to talk with you today. Have a wonderful week.

Tim Yeadon: All right. I hope you have a nice day. Bye.

This week we look at Apple\'s emails.

Avocode, a cross-platform tool, centralizes design collaboration to help speed up the feedback process and file hand-off between designers and developers.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Reduce the number of differences you have in text, design, color, etc. OR make sure the design differences are doing a job.

2. Finding a balance in text styles (ex: heading, followed by smaller paragraph text) can make a big difference on your audience’s cognitive load.

3. Keep an eye on the measure, the number of characters on a line. Avoid orphans, a word at the end of a paragraph that appears by itself, and test the layout on mobile. Use responsive code to tighten up the text.

Matthew Smith: Hey email geeks. It\'s another episode of Feedback Friday. I hope you are doing fantastic today. It\'s time to Design Better, Spam never. That\'s what we\'re doing here on Feedback Friday. We\'re introducing email ethics and email design to all our email geeks friends. We are going to review Avocode emails today. These are some of my favorites for their type of graphical prowess. I\'m excited. So let\'s talk about first, what are these emails trying to achieve?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/33rCiVs3nww

I\'ve got a couple to go through, but Avocode makes the process of taking your designs and going into code a more fluid experience. They want to convey very quickly their unique selling proposition and get that in front of their users, help them understand what the email is for, serving them quickly, and then get them to take an action.

Let\'s look at this email as an example. This is what I love about Avocode. The content is just really straight and to the point. \\"Finish your next project faster with the new Avocode app\\" I want to finish projects faster, right? So they\'re giving me a promise here that I think is really exciting. It\'s really interesting.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/restart-your-avocode-trial/

It\'s not just use Avocode to launch your new app, but it\'s \\"Finished it faster\\". And I think when we have the opportunity to sell that as a proposition, we are able to move things forward for our customers. They understand why they would hire Avocode. I would hire it to be more efficient with my design to launch process, and I think that\'s pretty cool how they\'ve done that. 

They do a fantastic job, I think, of just being really nice and big with their content and getting out of the way. I like to talk about design golf a lot on these episodes, and they\'ve done a fantastic job of staying really simple and reducing down to the lowest common denominator of different available pieces of type.

So you\'ve got your heading here, and then you\'ve got this font size. And in this case it\'s white, but the same font size is being used down here. And that kind of difference ends up making a big difference in terms of the cognitive load for your users. So anything that you can do to reduce the number of differences you have or make sure that each of the differences you do have are doing a job.

So for instance, we\'ve added icons here. And these little descriptions to the icons. They\'re doing a job. They have a purpose, right. Using imagery, like my eye comes to these images first, so I really want to know, Oh, okay. I recognize Figma. Cool. It works with Figma and then Oh, neat. Like I can take notes and describe changes in my design files.

Fantastic. Okay. And then I can restart the trial because in my case, this isn\'t part of what I do as a designer and a director. So I had a trial for a while and haven\'t continued it, but I do think that they are doing some really nice work just to get me back in and understand what I can do.

Also, look at their mobile. I think they did a nice job here. One of the things I find is that people often go to one column from two column two quickly. Two column is still very readable on mobile, and I think they\'ve done a nice job of maintaining that. One thing I would change is what\'s called the measure.

This is a typographical term, but the measure from \\"export\\" to \\"from\\", it\'s pretty long for centered text and causing some orphans here. So in this case, we\'ve got this \\"from\\", and then \\"Figma\\" down on its own and \\"design files\\" out on its own. You know, you try and avoid that. So test that like in apps, like Litmus or Email on Acid, and maybe make a little bit of a responsive code change so that when it\'s in a mobile view, you tighten that up a little bit.

Same with center text. I understand why a lot of people do it in mobile, but keep in mind that centered text is much harder to read than left-aligned text. So it works in this case, but I think honestly, they could have kept the same layout as they had in the desktop here in mobile, and it would have worked just fine. But it works okay here because the text is short. 

So let\'s hop over to the next email once again. Really nice. Clean, easy to read and their CTA is like, they have just one beautiful big CTA and it says, \\"Save 20%\\" on the Avocode. I like that. It\'s so clear. One thing I would say is, from a readability or accessibility perspective, this minus 20% is probably going to be a little bit difficult.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/discount-for-all-students-and-graduates/

What is this email trying to do first though? We understand that it\'s trying to let people know that there\'s something special, there\'s a sale, and I think they\'ve done a good job of using this pink to really drive that home and to help people understand that it\'s supposed to be special. It feels more like a sale.

Being able to tell that information, get that information out there, and then move people down into the focus, which is the CTA. I think minus 20% feels good, but again, could be more accessible. Let\'s me know it\'s a Back to School Week Sale. Cool. Get that very quick. This is a little bit of supporting copy and then right to the CTA.

This is an interesting tool using time to drive sales. So I\'ve seen that work pretty well, and I think that can actually be dynamic too. I think it\'s a little bit challenging when that\'s not consistent between customers, but I think you can personalize it based on some of the actions that they\'ve recently taken.

And as long as you\'re making that feel it makes sense and it\'s not gimmicky to the user. I think that it can work really well and help people to take action. I love this little testimonial component that they add here. I think that this type of component is one that could be used in other versions as well, could have been used in that last email as well.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/public-launch-jira-integration/

And then they also have this additional component, which is other groups that use Avocode. In this case, you\'re in good company. And then it says here, I probably would say, and also these companies, so @AODM that\'s, you know, Maxim here is being represented, but I\'d like a little bit more context on these logos down here, but overall, I just feel like another fantastic email.

Finally a third one. Let\'s look at it. \\"Come back for JIRA and other new features\\". So this is, another update for them that lets people know that there are new features going on in Avocode that you can check out that maybe this is what makes me interested to come back. Right? So this is trying to reduce churn.

That\'s what this email is intended for. Come back. And then the new feature is JIRA. I think that\'s pretty helpful. Seeing a visual image of JIRA here is extremely helpful and lets me know a little bit more about that tool. So I imagine they\'ve segmented me into a situation where I\'ve fallen off and then maybe I\'m somebody who might be interested in a tool like JIRA or maybe this is to all people that have fallen off and then trying to get people to reintegrate in this way.

It\'s smart. I think it works really well. Design wise, this email has some challenges. I think it moves from left aligned to center. Here and then centered again, having this divider, visual divider of the black and the white helps. But if you can, be consistent. So if we go back here, you can see they\'re doing things in a much more left aligned manner, and that works a lot more consistently and it feels a little bit better.

Whereas this, it starts to feel jagged. Okay, left. Aligned. Oh, centered. And we\'re switching gears. So just be aware of that. This is a little bit of a nitpick because they have this divider it works, but keep in mind that that\'s something that you can watch out for. It\'s just a nice design treatment. But overall, I think they\'ve done a nice job.

Good work Avocode. What are some things that they could improve? What if I have forgotten really what Avocode does or how I can use it. I think that a little teaser in the bottom, \\"Need a review of what Avocode can do for you and your next project?\\" And send me to the site to review more, maybe about trial, letting me know a little bit more about what\'s included in the trial or can I get another 14 days or something like that might be interesting to try. There\'s some different things. 

Let us know @reallygoodemail if you have any ideas about how Avocode could improve what they\'re doing or if you have any questions and feedback. We\'d love to get some insights from the Avocode team as well.

Thanks for being here. I\'m looking forward to having my kids over tonight and enjoying a nice long weekend with them. Everybody have a wonderful one. Try and stay sane out there. Love ya, talk soon. 

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Get creative. Showcase products in different ways throughout your emails. Use simple typography that is one color to make this work.

2. Here\'s a solid layout format for product emails: product image, supporting copy, CTA. Make the email easy to navigate without getting too intense.

3. Be careful with CTAs on mobile. The product photos and CTAs might appear too close together. Double the padding between your CTA and the next product photo to give your email a little more breathing room.

Matthew Smith: Hi, I\'m your host, Matthew Smith, also known as @whale, like the animal. Here to host another episode of Feedback Friday for all you email geeks wanting to learn a little bit about design and what makes an email really good. Today we\'re going to review Away luggage, and they\'re really, really fantastic email series.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/bmwN1miC34I

Lots of cool things that we can dive into today. So why don\'t you come on a little journey with me and we will dive right in. Let\'s look at their all blue, new year, new hue. Pretty interesting to see. This is a partnership that they\'ve developed with Pantone [↓], which I think is pretty interesting. So it\'s a Pantone color of the year for 2020 it\'s a blue.

Pretty sexy, pretty interesting. I\'m just going to say I\'m gonna get it out of the way. These are all image emails and that bums me out big time because it\'s not future forward. That said, the content, the strategy, the aesthetic of these emails, the branding, all very strong. What does Away want to do here?

Why are they sending this email? They want to get new luggage out to new people and/or returning customers. They want to show them something really pretty interesting, right? And blue is not like your average luggage piece. So they\'re trying to get you to stand out from the crowd. Maybe you\'ve got a bunch of black luggage and it\'s time to upgrade.

They do this little play at new year, new you. New year, new hue in this case. And I think that\'s clever and it\'s fun, right? So they\'re doing a great job of getting me to dive in and they get me a nice, clear copywriting statement, which I think is clever and fun. They gave me some supporting copy and give me a very, very clear CTA.Shop Pantone. 

They use this imagery to help me understand what\'s available in the line and all the sizes that are available in this new color. I think that\'s extremely helpful. And then they give me little details, like being able to see that the wheels are even blue or that the interior has this sick, like little blue parts that the zipper is even blue.

I mean, these are details that some of us notice and care about. Right? And they\'ve done a fantastic job of putting this together. And just a beautiful illustrated, fun way. Over here on the mobile side, everything looks really clean and it just makes sense. It\'s a little small. This is not really what you\'d call mobile optimized.

It works on the mobile side. You can see that it\'s readable enough in this mobile view, but it could be even better. And again, that\'s one of the issues with mobile optimization is you\'re going to have a hard time doing that. You can load unique images for that, but then you have to design it twice, not that fun.

Right up at the top. Let\'s look at a couple of differences. So in this case, they\'re talking about a way in Pantone partnership, and in this one, they\'re using this tooling of putting navigation. So I\'m curious what you\'re experiencing out there. Let us know if you have seen strength in that tooling.

In this case [↑], you know, shop and refer a friend are not like what you\'d expect to see on awaytravel.com. So being able to see those two up top I think is pretty interesting. I\'m curious how effective that was. So if you\'re on Away, team let us know. We would love to learn beside you.

They are letting us know right away that, Hey, if I make it a double or a triple, that there are options for me, and that\'s pretty cool. So if I buy a whole set, then I can get some discounts or some value opportunities and I can shop things in sets. I can also look for something that\'s more toward my match and I can see things that are properties or values of each of these.

One of the things I think is working really well is that they give me an image. They tell me what this image set is about. They give me the supporting copy and then a CTA, and then they repeat that down here with this set again, and I think that\'s working really well. The one thing that I think is a little challenging is if I\'m in this sort of view, the CTA. Does it belong to this top one or the bottom one? The difference is just a tiny bit more padding here that suggests it\'s to the top one. If it were me, I would double that. So it just gives your email just a little more breathing room. The amount of scrolling that you have to do is not much more, and it gives the overall appearance a lot more breathing room.

So this is just a cool way to walk people down. I love how simple this is. You\'re going to hear this over and over from me is, this is a good example of design golf. Design golf is this idea that you pair down and you look for the lowest point value. Every single difference is a point. Try and get to the lowest point value you can during every design.

They have this font up top. They have a nice big heading on white in this background. But then as you go down these heading stay the same, the layout stay the same. It\'s extremely easy to navigate and to see the differences without getting too intense or too wonky. I think they\'ve done a really nice job here with this.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/while-youre-still-here/

This is a great example of seeing the Away brand flex [↑]. Look at how different this feels. To this, and yet it\'s still part of the away family. One of the ways that they continue to be able to make that work, I think, is by using typography that is one color, and that is simple. And seeing if this other type of typography and illustration how it converts. So I would be super interested to know more about it. So in this case, this is, I\'ve purchased an Away bag, and then what is the next step for me, right? So I get to see sweet, here\'s what\'s on its way, and here are the features that I can expect about battery power, picking a number to secure my suitcase, and then how to pack it.

All these little tools that I can actually, in these cases on these bottom ones, watch and learn. I think these are probably not worth watching a video about, like it\'s easy enough just to see the illustration, but I think they\'ve done a nice job here. The one piece of feedback would be, I think that the amount of text here for our centered is a little long. It works because of how simple this is overall. If it were more complex, it would be really difficult. It\'s easy to scan, as I\'ve been talking about with design golf, they\'ve really trimmed it down so it makes it work okay. 

I think it\'s fantastic to see them pushing their brand even further, doing fun things [↑]. The way I like to think about brand in this case is it\'s like a brand family, and so they\'re pushing it here, but it still is part of the Away family because it has to do with luggage obviously, but they are really pushing it toward this like old school eighties maybe like whatever this chalet era is, but just a fun GIF here.

Fun photography, really wonky, crazy email. Again, it\'s all images, which makes some of this possible. They could have done the imagery separate, and this could be live text very easily. But man, what a fun email. But yet, even with all this interesting stuff that they\'ve introduced here, notice how it still remains very, very simple.

You\'ve got all these twists and turns and the illustrations and different imagery here. But it still is essentially very straightforward, and that is a really important part of the design ethic of Away. I think it works very well. These are e-commerce emails, right? You\'ve got to get good photography in front of the user and help them understand what the product is.

Show off the styles. In this case, showing imagery with some accoutrement like this chair and the helmet is an awesome idea. Being able to show it on the wall of like a ski resort, brilliant move there. That makes a lot of sense. Being able to show it with some environment like this, like the really nice old school chair and one of these chalets. 

Then being able to show somebody using the product also loves seeing the diversity, especially in this sport of skiing. You don\'t see a ton of African Americans or Africans, and so it\'s nice to see some diversity and pushing that. I think that\'s wonderful. And it helps just keep the brand fresh and move the narrative of diversity forward. 

They just have done a nice job of including even just this random little ski boot there I think is fantastic. Look at this little mountain icon. Fantastic little treatment. Just a bunch of details. Again, on the rest of these, these all start to tell a story of what\'s happening in the Away brand.

There\'s quite a bit of difference here, but enough sensibility that I feel like they\'ve done a good job of showing the vast array of what\'s possible within Away, and moving me into product and giving me an opportunity to get to the site. Go see what else I can learn. Nice job Away. 

Always looking for your feedback. What do you think? I\'m not the only person who cares about this stuff, so please let us know in the comments or email us at hello@reallygoodemails.com and let us know what you think about the episode. Thank you for being here. Love you email geeks. I\'m going to go have an amazing Friday and taking some time off and will rest my brain.

Alright, have a good one. Bye everybody.

Away designs, manufactures, and retails suitcases, bags, and accessories with premium materials for modern travel.

Baremetrics provides subscription-based SaaS analytics & insights for customers using Stripe, Braintree, Recurly, and more.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Write a hyper-personalized, one-to-one message. Drop the corporate language and offer a low-commitment CTA.

2. Explain why you want your readers to take action. “The goal is…” It comes off as more trustworthy, credible, and empathetic, and it’s a better experience overall.

3. Think of the email as a care package. Walk your readers through what they need to do. Include a link that leads them directly to where they need to go instead of asking them to log in. Sending additional links, instructions, and resources in your message helps guide your audience.

Matthew Smith: Happy Feedback Friday, everybody. It\'s great to be here. I\'m here with Corey Haines, Head of Growth at Baremetrics. Today, we are doing something a little different and I\'m excited. It\'s going to be a great one. Glad to have you here, Corey. Thanks for coming on. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/0m1AEyL9Aj0

Corey Haines: Thank you for having me. Yeah. Super stoked. I\'ve been a listener for a long time. I think back to the kind of OG season. So it\'s an honor.

Matthew Smith:  So cool. Well, super stoked to have you on here. So today we\'re going to do something a little different. We\'re going to go through some text emails. A lot of our audience is primarily focused on highly visual. What a lot of people would call designed emails. 

Now, from my perspective, I think of design as capital D design, meaning if you\'ve thought through the copy, if you\'ve bolded anything, if you\'ve put some effort into this thing, it\'s designed. Just because it doesn\'t have a header with a graphic and a logo or something doesn\'t mean it wasn\'t designed.

I would love to give our audience a high level of what is happening with these three emails and then we\'ll go through each three and I\'d love for you to tell them what\'s working and why did it work? What\'s powerful about these emails? 

Corey Haines: I picked out a few in particular. One that we\'ve used at Barametrics and then two from some others that I\'m sort of an admirer of and I swiped from my swipe file. 

The first one here is actually from the CEO of Front, Mathilde. So this is what you would call like a trial reactivation email? So someone came to the site, they started a trial. They decided not to continue with the product and then they went on with their life.

I believe this was sent out about six months after the original trial start. This is a tough cookie to crack because you\'ve already had someone in the product they\'ve already decided that they are not going to continue with you. It\'s going to be a hard one to reengage people and try to get some sort of tangible result. 

Now I know that this worked pretty well because I had a few people on Twitter mention that this is what got them back into the product and reinvigorate their interest in the product itself. The high-level themes of what stands out is that it\'s written exactly like a hyper-personalized one to one personal email. Something I would send to you or you would send to me. Doesn\'t read like a kind of a corporate-y unbranded generic email.

She says things like, my name is Mathilde and I\'m the CEO and founder. It sounds so funny to say now, but that\'s something that you would start with if you were sending to someone else, but most of these types of emails start with, \\"Hey, remember us?\\" or \\"Are you interested in trying Front again?\\" or something else like that. That immediately is the tale that, ah, well, this is just another thing about.. archive, right? Just kind of get rid of it. 

That kind of theme of personality personalization is evident throughout it all. Then another big takeaway from the email is that there isn\'t a question mark or a call to action in the email.

She simply states what she would love to see back, which is a response. So she says, if you\'d like to revisit Front, I\'d be more than happy to reopen your trial for seven days. It doesn\'t say, would you like to reopen your trial? Or how can I get you to restart your trial? And at the end, it\'s the same thing, just letting me know what the best next steps are. It\'s not a, do you have five minutes tomorrow? That to me was a breath of fresh air.

Matthew Smith: I like the fact that she introduces herself. It says, looks like you weren\'t able to utilize it much. It\'s understanding. There\'s some empathy potentially. She\'s guessing, Mathilde is in this case or the email creator, but also I\'d be happy, meaning I\'d be willing to do this for you. I can do that. It has that sense, I\'m going to do something for you instead of we\'d do this or we\'re willing, or if you do this, we can do that. It\'s just interesting. Then I can also introduce you to a workflow specialist on our team for a free training.

So, Hey, maybe that was the thing. Maybe it was the lack of training that made me walk away from Front. It was too much, or it was felt overwhelming or something, but even further just to say the goal of this training. I think that\'s super interesting. They\'re talking about the purpose of the training.

What\'s happening is a lot of this email feels like it\'s more about me than Front and that\'s pretty unusual. I like that. 

Corey Haines: Absolutely. I think, especially in a B2B setting where the calls to action are sort of high commitment. It\'s like sign up for something, pay us money, talk with one of us on the phone. When you orient it to the person that you\'re sending to and even when you would go as far to explain why you want them to take action on that thing that you want to do. The goal of this training would be an explanation. It comes off a lot more trustworthy, credible, empathetic, like you mentioned, and is an overall better experience. 

Matthew Smith: Well, tell me what\'s happening in this one that you think is working well.

Corey Haines: This next one is an email that I sent out to canceled Baremetrics customers. Which is a segment that no one likes to talk about or wants to talk about, especially in the B2B world. I make a habit of every six months trying to send an email like this. It\'s very short, sweet to the point. It helps me understand what we can do, and if there\'s any opportunity for these people, since it\'s been a good amount of time.

It\'s funny because it follows a pretty similar pattern, but I had not seen the Front email before. What I wanted to do, my goals were to have a casual, personal style and intro. I wanted to give them context into why I\'m emailing them. Then I wanted to flip the negative into a positive.

I know for a fact they canceled and we have a lot of feedback on why people cancel as well. So I didn\'t need to rehash that or open the can of worms again. Instead, I wanted to flip it to a positive. So instead of asking why they canceled or what we could do. Instead, I asked what would get them to stay or what would get them to come back.

So the main question that I ask is what would make Baremetrics a no brainer for you. It\'s not even what can I do to get you to sign up again? It\'s just, Hey yeah conceptually or theoretically, what would be valuable for you if it was Baremetrics or another tool, and then to have a really low commitment kind of call to action, low pressure.

Matthew Smith: I think it\'s working well. A question that I like to ask a lot of people is what would need to be true for XYZ to happen? It sort of follows that framework, right? What would need to change for Baremetrics to be like, Oh yeah, hell yeah? If it did this, or if I had that. And it reveals some interesting things.

I kind of love that it\'s all these five lines. I\'m such a nit-picky designer that I can\'t even send like a text or an email to like a friend that way. It has to like be a nice little paragraph, has to fit very well. It has to be concise. It\'s kind of messy a little bit, and it makes it feel more personal or like personally written rather than automated.

You do this bolding and I think what you do there in some ways is a little bit like a tiny, tiny landing page. Hey. Here\'s this intro. Where has the year gone... Hey, here\'s what we\'re doing. Here\'s the real ask. Here\'s how to do something about it. It just makes sense. Did you have good responses from this?

Corey Haines: I can\'t remember exactly how many this got sent out to. It was in the thousands though because it was for all time too. I was doing some backlogging work. It got an 80% open rate and a 5% reply rate, which kept me busy for about two weeks. We had several people come back. Lots of good feedback, had some great conversations about our roadmap, and overall, even just kind of qualitatively, it felt like a successful email for us. 

Matthew Smith: Love it. Now, what about this one from Zapier? 

Corey Haines: So at the Zapier email, this is also fairly similar in that it\'s sort of a reactivation of some sort. In this case, it\'s more of like a usage reactivation. So Zapier is freemium. You can create a free account. But basically what\'s happened here is that someone started to create a \\"zap\\". A little automation, mini automation, but that they didn\'t finish it.

Now this email\'s goal is to get them to finish the \\"zap\\" and to actually \\"activate\\" as a user. What\'s interesting to me is that it\'s split into these three sections. You kind of know as well that this is not a personal email, but that\'s okay.

It still has a lot of great elements and it doesn\'t need to be a personal email for it to accomplish its goal. It starts with, Hey, it\'s Mike from Zapier personal and casual. He gives a quick explanation of what he thinks that you should do, and then provides a link to jump straight back into the \\"zap\\".

So many people, especially in B2B, they\'re like \\"log back in\\" or \\"get back to the dashboard\\" and I\'m like, okay, well now I have to go through all the work of finding exactly what I was doing and especially for something like this, that was like the last step. If you can take someone directly to that step and eliminate all other kinds of friction and a work involved, it\'s going to be much more likely to happen.

Also, he includes these other sections on guided learning and a guide for step by step instructions in a written form. and then he says, Hey, if you have any questions, feel free to reach out to our support team. There\'s also a link to directly get in touch with the support team.

So it just feels like a care package. Here\'s everything that you need to get up and running and continue with your success with Zapier.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, that\'s interesting. Do you know anything about, the effect of the email? Did you ever hear from Zapier about that? 

Corey Haines: I don\'t. No. I tried to poke around a little bit, again, this was actually from Twitter, from another friend who said, this is what got me back in and I\'m so thankful that they sent this because I didn\'t even know that my \\"zap\\" wasn\'t turned on. They didn\'t realize that they didn\'t finish it. So again, kind of anecdotally there\'s some success, but no, I don\'t have any broad numbers. 

Matthew Smith: Super interesting though. I like just anecdotally knowing that\'s what got somebody back in.

There are some things here in this email that are serving me, right? Like here\'s a link to jump back into your \\"zap\\". It\'s trying to create the lowest hanging bar for somebody to just return and bring them back in. Some people would call this a retention or a win-back campaign.

Keeping people guided about like how to do it, or if it\'s a little bit more like, Hey, I want some hands-on support then here\'s how to do that.

One thing that I like to say is like a good email or a good landing page, which I like to say that emails are landing pages delivered. You give people very clear, actionable steps, but you should sort of do it like a Bob Dylan song.

You know, like Bob Dylan, you can just jam out to good folk music. But if you get into it a little bit more and you can understand that it was very political or very spiritual. Those kinds of things. You want to make sure that you can just jam, you can get the quick thing first, and then you can dig in if that\'s your thing.

If I was independently wealthy, I would just test emails like this. I would send something out like this five or seven different ways and see what the results that you get on that. It would be fun to really do a very highly designed version of this with visual design or a much, much more text-oriented email without the sections and the bolding and the paragraphs, and try and really like shorten it up and see what seems to make it fit for that audience? Not like it works for all emails, but for that audience. 

Corey Haines: One of the big takeaways for me as well for this type of email is also reminding someone of the value of what you\'re asking them to do. So in the very beginning, he says, Hey, it\'s Mike, you started your \\"zap\\", but you didn\'t quite finish it. Then he says, as soon as you turn on your \\"zap\\", we\'ll start automating your tasks in the background while you focus on more important work. It sounds nice. I think that\'s important because it\'s easy to forget why you\'re doing it in the first place or really what the value prop of the app was.

So now bringing it top of mind, I\'m like, okay. Oh, you know what? It would be nice to automate this, forget about it, put it in the background then never have to get back to again. I\'m just going to kind of bite the bullet and dig in. Whereas maybe if that was missing, if that wasn\'t in there and it was just like, here\'s what you should do, I wouldn\'t have the same context to understand why I should act now. 

Matthew Smith: It makes it more about Zapier if they don\'t mention that. This makes it more about me or the receiver of the email. So many times our email marketing friends, they tend to send emails are all about themselves and not about the customer.

In relationships we call that narcissism, you know? So practice some empathy, practice a sense of you probably are busy as hell. Wouldn\'t it be nice to be able to focus on work again and let these things do the work for you that. You don\'t need to Oh yeah. I bet it would be nice.

To your point, this takes a minute to do, but it\'ll save you 10 minutes in the long run. Well, I appreciate you going through these with us. I recommend checking out Baremetrics and seeing what they\'re doing. Thank you for jumping in here with us Corey.

I appreciate it. It\'s fun to tackle a different topic and go after something that\'s not about design visually, but more about like copy and strategy and content. 

Corey Haines: Thanks so much for having me. It\'s been fun. I love doing these types of things. I\'m sort of a teardown aficionado. I do some tear-downs on the side for my self at swipefiles.co.

Some final takeaways for me, make it hyper-personal and have a voice that stands out from the unbranded generic kind of corporate jargon that you hear a lot of the times and then to orient to the customer, orient to the user. Frame everything in mind for them, the value that they\'re going to get, the struggles. Be empathetic. 

I think if you have at least. Those two kind of core fundamental ingredients, any one of your emails are going to benefit from it.

Matthew Smith: Well dude happy Friday and everybody stay safe out there. Don\'t forget to subscribe to the channel so you can get updates and stay up to date on what we\'re doing. Check out baremetrics.com and swipefiles.co.

Thanks again, Corey. Have a great weekend, bro. 

Corey Haines: Thank you. You too. 

Matthew Smith: All right, ciao.

This FF episode was sponsored by Netcore. 

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, Email Geeks? Welcome back to another episode of Feedback Friday, this week with Jay from ActionRocket. Tell us a little bit about yourself.

Jay Oram: I\'m the senior coder and interactive email specialist at ActionRocket, which means I spend all my time trying to find new stuff to make the emails look cool.

When I started, the idea was that I would just learn how to code emails, and then I realized that there was so much cool stuff out there. I kept badgering my managers to try new stuff that they were just like, okay, well you just go away and sort it out, and then we\'ll pitch it to some clients. If they like it, we\'ll do it. And that\'s what we did.

Matt Helbig: Sweet. I feel like the BBC page on our website has become the go-to spot for interactive email showcase, honestly. I\'m really impressed with what you guys have done for them.

So tell us a little bit about this email.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZiZFm4wGqy4

Jay Oram: BBC has great assets when they come to do things like this because they\'ve been working with David Attenborough who creates all the nature emails. They always have amazing assets and pictures, which is why they come to us and they say, we\'ve got all these amazing pictures and these cool ideas.

And in this instance, we had the five episodes. And they were like, how can we put as much of this information in an email to get people to want to click on it, to want to be able to look at the interesting episodes that we\'ve put together?

We\'ve had a long relationship with BBC and they know that we\'re good at designing. They\'re happy with the work that we\'ve done before, so they come to us and say, just do whatever you want and we\'ll pass it back to our stakeholders. If they\'re happy with it, we\'ll go forward. 

Sam, who is the designer for this email, won a Litmus award for the design work he\'s been doing. And so they trust his ideas of what the design could look like. And I am always testing out new things and constantly sharing it with Sam and the other designers at ActionRocket. Then, the two eventually line up. 

So in this case, we had the interactive accordion and some CSS, animations, and checkboxes, and stuff like that. Sam kind of knew all the things we could do and then he creates a design and he says, pretty sure we can do this, Jay, is that right? And then we go back to the BBC and they\'re happy with it. So we start designing and building.

Matt Helbig: It was really interesting to see all the different kinds of tools that you guys use with an email in this email.

I mean, there\'s custom web fonts, there\'s live text, there\'s interactive stuff. Do you have to sell this to the client or are they letting you sort of run with what you guys want to do each time?

Jay Oram: The live text, custom fonts, CSS, animation are all things that we work with all of our clients to push whatever is the latest standard for email. So, having live text and making it as accessible as possible, not having image buttons and that kind of thing is something that we try and promote from the very beginning of starting with the clients.

So they\'re kind of on board with all of that part. The sell-in with BBC is not too difficult because they\'ve seen the stuff we\'ve done before and they kind of know what we can do. So, whenever they do come to us with something and say, do whatever you want, they\'re expecting something completely different. 

If anything, it’s a little bit harder for Sam and the designers to constantly be coming up with these new ideas. But like you said, there\'s the checkbox hack that they call it to get everything to interact together. Then the CSS animations make the posters move, live text, live buttons. There\'s quite a lot of stuff in there when you think about it...background images.

Matt Helbig: How difficult was something like this background image, ‘cause that is the one thing that I don\'t know if I can wrap my head around. And I like the attention to detail where there\'s some transition effects or the images also have some background colors here.

Jay Oram: Yeah. So, there\'s a transition between the background images. Once you click on the accordion that\'s relevant for it. This one pushed us a little bit harder because you usually remember with the checkbox hack that you try and keep everything kind of flowing together.

So if, for example, if you click on the volcanoes, the next part in the code opens and then maybe something after that would animate, and with that means that we can keep the labels and the inputs in the right places so that it works on as many clients as possible.

But with the background image, because that was first in the code, it meant that we had to move all of the inputs above everything else. So it wasn\'t inline and then everything that came after it got affected. So we hid the inputs at the very top and then the label for the checkbox is on that accordion bar, and then when you click on that, that then sets off a chain of reaction of, change the background image, and open that bar for the accordion.

They\'ve all got subtle transition effects and animations that slowly opens, slowly closes, slowly fades between background images. Bringing the user interface, design animation basics that you can do on the web into email is the whole idea.

Matt Helbig: It felt really native, especially on a phone. It felt really natural. And I do think that attention to details, the transitions make the email feel better. It\'s not snapping as much as some of the interactive stuff that I tend not to really go towards. Smoothing out those transitions makes it feel a lot better and it reads a lot better.

How long does something like this take to build? How much testing is involved? Obviously, there\'s fallbacks involved. So, does that become a concern with the amount of timing that things like this take?

Jay Oram: Because we\'ve been working with clients for a while, including the BBC, they kind of know that there\'s a bit of a lead time.

And with these kinds of projects, especially with the big nature programs that the BBC put out, they know two, three months in advance before the episodes are gonna go live and the launch date. So there\'s a huge amount of marketing that is happening behind the scenes before the episode becomes live, and we\'re one part of that.

We’re given the assets and Sam will create two, three concept designs, think about all the things that they\'ve told us they want it to be included, and then there’s kind of a couple of two, three, four back and forths between the designers to do things.

At every step when Sam\'s designing something, if he\'s unsure if he can actually do it, he\'ll drop me a message or quick meeting and discuss is this possible? Maybe we could do this instead. 

The design for this one actually came about after...we both watch things on Disney+ and they had a Marvel screen where they had vertical lines with each movie on. So they had the Thor movie or the Avengers movie, and then when you clicked on it, the line expanded. So that was kind of where the idea came from. Sam rightly so, realized it wasn\'t going to work on mobile because squeezing five really thin lines in on mobile, and then trying to expand them all horizontally, wasn\'t going to work.

So, changed it to this more traditional accordion where it gets bigger. There\'s kind of a process of trial and error and thinking about ideas, and just throwing stuff at each other to kind of figure it out. Usually a couple of weeks, maybe three weeks on a big project to kind of get the design sorted, and all the way through that, I\'m part of the processes with the developers to see what is possible. 

In this case, because we wanted to make sure it was possible, I made a quick proof of concept just by not adding any assets or loads of texts or anything, literally just the bare bones. Can I open a carousel and an accordion this way? Can the background image change? All those kinds of little transition effects and CSS that we tried to play with. 

So I kind of had all that ready in my back pocket before they signed off the final design and said, yeah, go for it, and then the actual build itself kind of takes maybe two or three days because Sam\'s had all that time to work on the copy and they maybe got a copywriter in, or the images he\'s already put together for the design to be signed off. So really my step is the quickest one of the two or three days of building. Testing-wise, we Litmus and Email on Acid to make sure we cover as many different devices as possible.

With interactive emails, you need to be at click and do things. So the devices tests on Litmus and that could give us, is it interactive in the right place? Does everything look okay? Does the fallback load correctly in all the right places, and does it look correct in all those places?

I\'ve got my Macbook, which I work on, two PCs and six or seven mobile phones with as many different email clients on them as possible.

So the final check is running them through all those live devices. And then another check on top of that is we give it to another coder on the team and they run through everything again. I double-check it, triple-check it with live devices, and then we send it to another coder and they do the check-in as well. So, altogether, the testing, and then if anything comes up, changing it, it\'s probably about a day\'s worth of work.

So probably a week, four or five days, working week kind of thing to start from the design being done to the build being completely finished and signed off. And then we send it to the team and then they have to implement it in their ESP. Inevitably, something comes up in that testing. 

I think in this case, the footer itself, they were pulling in with some AMP scripts in Salesforce. Because the width was slightly different to the width that we designed the email, we then had to quickly change a few bits and pieces in that just to get it. ‘Cause it was kind of a standard footer that they use on everything for legal reasons.

So that was just something that we had to kind of work with and fit around. So, probably a month to six weeks is probably, from getting assets to delivering the final, full interactive build with all these parts in it.

Matt Helbig: It\'s awesome that you can have that one-on-one communication with the designer throughout this process and work together with a team like that.

I feel like some people end up just handing off emails or don\'t have that designer resource. So it\'s interesting to see how much time and effort goes into an email like this. How do you prove the ROI on an email like this that takes this long to make?

Jay Oram: The team at the BBC try and give us some feedback. They give us what they think worked well in terms of data on, was it worth doing interactive versus not interactive? Obviously they have the, anyone that got the static fallback version would be the one group, and then anyone that got the interactive version...the way they tell the difference between that is by using different links on the fallback and the interactive.

So, if they get more clicks on one, they know it\'s that than the other ones, so they can compare the difference. In this case, the interactive one got more clicks, so overall it performed better. There wasn\'t a control group that only got static and a control group that only got interactive. They can only work on the clicks. But they have an audience breakdown that they know the people that are in the audience. So they use the built-in information that\'s in Salesforce, and over the time of working with us, we\'ve probably lots of different return paths, Email on Acid, Litmus, to test out different newsletters and campaigns to see what the audience devices breakdown is.

And they\'re confident that there\'s quite a large number that we\'ll get this fully interactive version on Apple Mail, iOS Mail, WebKit, if they get to be online...not as big an audience get the fallback. So, that’s the kind of data that we\'re working on. I know that from this email itself, they had, 34% of people that clicked through to iPlayer, watched all five episodes, so that\'s quite a large amount of people that got drawn in and then went to it.

And I think there was quite a high percentage, from their point of view, they want to get people to use iPlayer, which is their online video streaming service. So this email enticed more people than the other iPlayer emails to go on the website and sign in and use an account for the first time.

So it was kind of always working to grow the audience. So those are the kinds of KPIs that we get to back up using this kind of thing. The BBC don\'t have a massive budget, and they kind of save these interactive emails for the big hit programs that they really want to push. They really want to make a big deal out of maybe five or six a year or something.

Matt Helbig: Looking at that content, that type of media, it felt really natural, like interacting here and then going on to that landing page and seeing some of the same sort of content.

Is there anything else that you might want to change if you had a little bit more time?

Jay Oram: Every single time I build something, there\'s always like, oh, I want to change this, or how can I do that a little bit better? This one, the way the accordion is set up, it doesn\'t actually let you click on it to open it and then close it using the same button. It\'s just the problem with the way that the checkboxes work. You can click on one, but then you can\'t unclick it.

The way that we coded it meant that so that we could have all of the background changes and the transitions and things meant that what I would need to do to be able to make that happen would be to copy that first bar with the header, the background image and the pulsing, and have almost a double. 

So once you clicked on it to open a different button would appear that you could click to close it, but in exactly the same place. Either we didn\'t have the time because they were about to launch it or the more code that we add, the heavier the email gets to load. Even though the interactive version wouldn\'t show on Gmail, all of that code still is in the file when we want to try and keep it below that hundred kilobytes. 

So I\'m always wary of adding more things that we don\'t have to. It\'s always a bit of a balancing act between what we can and can\'t do. And another thing that I always want to do, but it\'s always difficult is making it more accessible. 

One thing that we’ve been trying to work on more, not necessarily of interactive emails, but for normal emails is being able to use the keyboard to navigate. In this case, it doesn\'t really work as well as I would have hoped it to be using the keyboard to navigate. 

But apart from that, it pretty much ticks all the boxes if you were to use it as a screen reader or visually if there\'s any color blindness or different ways of visually seeing it, or if the images are turned off or things like that, all of those things. They look good enough, if not as good as possible with what\'s going on. There\'s always little things, but nothing major that would have had a major impact.

Matt Helbig: Yeah, this one looked really clean and just poking around the code, I felt like it was pretty lightweight compared to some of the other interactive emails I\'ve seen where they\'ve added a lot more code and stuff like that.

On the fallback side, do you sort of build the fallback into this content or is it a whole separate piece of the email?

Jay Oram: In most cases, we try and make it so that the interactive content is shared with the fallback. In this case, the BBC team weren\'t happy with having all of the accordions open in that format that they were in and making a really long email.

So in the end, we went with a different fallback design to the interactive design, and we couldn\'t share the resources as much as we would have hoped. Like you said, we made sure that everything was as light as possible in the code anyway. So, effectively adding all the content again, wasn\'t like doubling the whole way of the email.

Matt Helbig: Are there any resources that you might have for people that might be interested in getting into interactive emails?

Jay Oram: So I started by literally inspecting as many different interactive emails as I could and find in the code, cutting everything back to the bare minimum. 

The Really Good Emails database with all those interactive emails where you\'ve got the view live code - go in there, strip it back to just the CSS and just the interactive bit, and then keep taking it back until there\'s literally just the bit that does the movement and that kind of starts your process off.

FreshInbox, that website and the tools that they put together. Justin Khoo put that together. All of the resources on there are really good. Mark Robbins’s Good Email Code website has got some stuff on it, and then he\'s done a lot of interactive things. So, following what Mark\'s working on is a good resource.

I\'ve written a number of blogs on the Email on Acid blog, Campaign Monitor, and ActionRocket’s own blog, which is called Email Design Review. They all have breakdowns of loads of different parts of the interactivity, whether it\'s an accordion or hotspots or a live search bar or anything like that, they\'re all kind of in there.

And then also the basic elements like a really comprehensive guide on CSS animation for Campaign Monitor. So, break down every single part from how you declare the animation to how to work out a cubic-Bezier if you want to change it and top-level, so you can get started, but then also drill down into every single element so you can see exactly what this is doing.

I think I went away and looked at the web and tried to find tutorials on CSS animation, Cssr, and any HTML attributes that are not as used as much and kind of learn as much as possible from the web, and then try to get stuff in the web to work in email.

If you\'re working on emails that you only want to work in WebKit, Apple Mail, iOS, or if someone wants to view in the browser, then you\'ve got quite a big range of things from CSS, transitions, animations, transforms. Anything CSS-wise pretty much works in Apple Mail. So, you\'ve got the whole web at your fingertips to kind of learn that stuff.

I joined the Email Geeks Slack group before I actually got a job at ActionRocket, the first developer job I got in email, and learned a lot from that Email Geeks Slack group, and got my job through that as well. So, anyone getting into it, go there and ask as many questions as you can.

Matt Helbig: Do you think interactive is still the way to go or is it worth exploring some of the AMP stuff? How do you see that stuff working together in the next couple of years?

Jay Oram: Everything that is out there should only ever be used if you\'ve got the perfect use case for it. So, even though we could do this all the time for every email and there\'s hundreds of thousands of things that we could do and new things like AMP or parallax scrolling or all these kinds of things...they\'re all tools that we\'ve gathered together, but it\'s the use case.

If there\'s a specific use for it, then go for it. But don\'t just use the interactiveness just to hopefully build up your emails or get a better return on investment. I think Elliot mentions it a lot where if your content’s rubbish, making it interactive is not going to make people want to click on it more.

Have good content, have a good subscriber base, have a good list, and then do the interactive stuff. Once you\'ve kind of done all those other things, it\'s like the icing on the cake to kind of get that little bit extra out of it. 

Because I, every single day, work on these interactive emails, I think it happens a lot. But then I talked to loads of other email geeks and email marketers, and they\'re not even thinking about interactive. They\'ve got data they\'re working on or personalization or hundreds of other things. I think it\'s growing, and in all of the reports that come out online in the email industry and how it\'s changing, they seem to say that interactive email is a growing thing with AMP now being supported by more email service providers and more email clients.

At ActionRocket, we\'re getting more interested in creating AMP emails. So, I can only imagine that more people want AMP emails.I know that I have a very kind of tunnel vision view because all I do is interactive stuff and everyone talks to me about interactive stuff, I think it\'s a big part. But I know it\'s not a massive industry-wide thing.

If you\'re not sending interactive emails, that\'s not a problem. There\'s loads of other stuff that is definitely worth your time and putting an investment in, working on and working towards, and then working on interactive email afterward.

Matt Helbig: Thanks so much for taking the time today. I really enjoyed looking at this email and hopefully, we get to see some more ActionRocket emails in the wild.

Jay Oram: Yeah, there\'s lots of stuff out there. And if you look on our social channels, they share when we do work on things like this, and I would encourage anyone that wants to learn to look at the view online link, grab the code, pick at it, and then if you want to understand more then just fire some questions to me on the Email Geeks Slack channel, and I will try and help as much as possible.

Matt Helbig: Great! Thanks so much.

Jay Oram: Cheers!

Matt Helbig: See ya.

What does it take to build an interactive email that hooks your audience? Jay Oram from Team ActionRocket shares how he and his team create really good interactive emails with accordions, animations, and checkboxes for big clients like the BBC and how they\'ve maintained that relationship.

Bellroy is an accessories brand based in Australia making tech-friendly carry goods, including wallets, bags, pouches, and more.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Switch up the verbiage in the CTA buttons that relate to the product. Instead of adding all “Shop Now” buttons, Bellroy uses “Tote it,” “Wear it,” “Work it.”

2. Make CTA text and images large enough to read on mobile. If the CTA appears next to the product image on mobile, center align the image and place the CTA below the image to make it responsive and effective.

3. Repetition in variation maintains visual ethics so everything in the email feels like it\'s connected. For example, if you’re using shadows in the product photography, then use shadows in the CTAs.

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, Rob Hope? Matthew Smith?

Rob Hope: How are you doing?

Matthew Smith: We\'re here with Rob Hope today from Email Love. We\'ve already done one episode, and now we\'re onto our second with him and appreciate you being here, man. Thanks. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/vUkVC7fck8E

Rob Hope: Yeah, thanks for having me, man. Like I\'m enjoying the series. Learning something from every episode, so yeah, just grateful for the invite.

Matthew Smith: Fantastic. Yeah. Everybody check out Email Love. It\'s fantastic to have more people celebrating what\'s happening in emails. So let\'s dig into this email that you helped pick out. This is from Bellroy. Why don\'t you tell us a little bit about it? 

Rob Hope: So when I first saw this email, obviously this, it says a lot about their product. It\'s just the photography is gorgeous. How they mix this sort of handwritten script fonts—arrows pointing in over the products, the shadows, making them everything pop out. love the design. I love it.

But the biggest thing for me where there\'s this call to actions, these actionable text \\"store it,\\" \\"work it.\\" This is a big statement, and I feel it\'s a bit of a masterclass in switching up your call to action buttons.

Big fan, and then, yeah, just their palette. The orange from the Bellroy reused perfectly throughout makes also that little handwritten fonts stick out. These great tones, the overlapping images like you\'ve seen here, it\'s just a great looking email. Obviously there\'s a lot of images here used, not a lot of live text, but I feel like, it\'s remarkable the people subscribing, I mean, they could you go as far as saying they expect it and they just want to see beautiful product imagery. 

Matt Helbig: Lots of going on in this email.

Matthew Smith: Matt Helbig, what do you think? 

Matt Helbig: The all image thing is a bummer, but when you have these product shots and this gorgeous photography, you want to use images. So, I mean, this one stands out to me. If I got it in my inbox, I want to open it and check it out. This one has been one of our favorites too. Especially this header, the simplicity and use of color is nice. I\'m not sure how I feel about the little shadows under the CTA or not. I think I like them?

Rob Hope: Old school, so old school.

Matt Helbig: I think in general is this one\'s pretty good. But I think the biggest thing for us has been that mobile view. The CTAs are scaling down small and might be hard to click on or tap on or something.

Overall, this one\'s pretty good, but I think they could maybe make it even better. 

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I agree. I think the way I would describe it is this is next level effective, great typographical design. It has all the right design system qualities—the design pattern. We talked last episode about design golf.

They did an excellent job of keeping their consistent design language very clear. Here\'s a heading, here\'s a subheading, here\'s the body text, here\'s the CTA, here\'s this little doodad. Trying to give you a sense of what\'s powerful in the image, boom, repeat it, boom, repeat it.

They\'ve got all of these qualities that the design feels right. It\'s interesting. They have shadows here. I guess that they\'ve used shadows in their photography, so they\'re doing what I call a repetition and variation within a design and maintaining that visual ethic.

So it feels connected. Everything feels like it\'s part of the same family, and that works well. That said, technically speaking, this needs improvement. So, for instance, this works right upfront. I can\'t read, \\"wallets, bags, accessories, and new releases\\" on mobile. I know that it\'s here.

But my eyes aren\'t fantastic. These glasses that I wear, man, I need them desperately. Even the text down here where it says, \\"set yourself up\\" the subtext. It\'s getting small. Again, I understand why people do this, but this is not difficult to find yourself having a template that allows for live text.

This is an image here, up top, but this could easily be live here, and then it can scale, and it can be responsive in email. Then the other thing would be, instead of having this be a side by side here, the opportunity is, you could keep it side by side, but make the image slightly smaller. But I think the image is one of the most important things here.

So if it were me, I would center align the image here, and then put tech kit and everything down below it. And even if you made it images, you still could make that responsive. Where that part comes down below and stays larger, and that would be much more effective. The ROI on this is. If we make an email responsive, do we get a better effect?

It doesn\'t make sense for people to like us to talk about cool ideas. Wouldn\'t that be neat to be responsive? That doesn\'t, who cares? Right. The point is, like, does it drive business? Which is what this person is trying to do, what this group is trying to do, and consistently we see that it does.

When you cumulatively do all these little things. They add up to higher return on investment, which gets people great gear and drives business. And so I think that\'s the thing that I would call out here, is there are some ways that they could improve this email to be much more effective.

But I do think from an email strategy design perspective, this is top 5% easily and really impressive. So thanks for bringing this to bear. 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/you-re-in-welcome-to-the-family/

https://codepen.io/reallygoodemails/pen/EBMBzj

Rob Hope: Just the context of the send as well as interesting because I think this is early January and they\'ve like announced five products here, which are broad, covering their whole range.

We\'ve got your tech kits, these backpacks, wallets, work gear. I quite like the timing of it because now in your subconscious being planted, their range. You\'re thinking of an upcoming birthday of a friend or even for yourself because the work year has come in, but you now are reminded that like, you know what?

Bellroy just covered it all. If I\'m looking for something, I\'m probably going to go to Bellroy first. I just quite liked the selection of products in this reminder email. 

Matthew Smith: That\'s well said. When you brought that up, another thing that caught my eye as we scrolled through here is that they do an excellent job showing all of the product lines they have. It\'s a perfect time of year to do that.

But also these are the things that I care about when I\'m shopping. How long is this going to last and what do you guarantee about it? How quickly can it get to me? Can I make a decision like, Oh, this didn\'t work out after all, without it being a pain in the ass and like knowing about customer experience.

A lot of times when I start shopping online, I immediately try and find like I\'m doing a find for returns and just to call this out is such a service to me. So I love that. What do you all think about these little doodads here at the bottom? Are they catching your interest? Are you reading them?

Rob Hope: I don\'t know what you asking me to do at that point. We talk about stay connected. my Bellroy. There\'s too many things to do in this email. I feel like as a reminder email in our product, it\'s keep it simple and even this footer, it\'s really busy. Social icons at the bottom. It\'s a repetition of what you\'ve just said in the first column. with \\"stay connected\\".

If anything, I would end the email with a testimonial or something from like someone who I can relate to, like maybe an owner of an agency and he\'s like, when it comes to thinking of new products for my team, Bellroy is the first place I look at it, I mean, and then I would probably in the testimonial is just highlight one of the things here.

So \\"three-year warranty\\" or the \\"fast shipping\\" or the \\"easy returns\\". So then maybe he talks about the fast shipping, or something like that. Just a highlight of a feature. Strong testimonial to end it off. Clean. Done. 

Matthew Smith: I like that man. That\'s some good thinking. 

Matt Helbig: I would check out some other sends, too, cause I feel like their cadence is perfect.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/day-30-what-s-happened-so-far/

When you first get into their product, they send a few welcome emails, and then if you purchase a product, they send some followup ones. So I think this is a brand to watch. I liked their use of color and branding. It makes each of their emails kind of stand out from each other too.

Rob Hope: Beautiful. 

Matthew Smith: Brilliant. Cool, cool. Well, happy Friday, everybody. Happy Friday, email geeks, and keep those submissions coming. We are working on some features, which we\'ll let people know a little more clearly when they\'ve are not accepted. Why? So we know that\'s a big ask. Thanks for all your patience as we continue to work on this project. We appreciate everybody.

Chow chow. Talk soon. 

Matt Helbig: Bye.

Unsure how to adapt your email marketing during a crisis? You’re not alone.

Jason Rodriguez: Thanks everyone for joining us. This is our webinar we put together pretty quickly because I think we\'re in a spot where everyone is reacting to a quickly evolving situation throughout the world with the coronavirus and COVID-19 pandemic. So we know a lot of email marketers have different questions about how we as email marketers should be reacting to this situation. How we should be talking to our subscribers and our customers, in a very appropriate manner. And that\'s what we\'re looking to address today and definitely get through as many questions as we can for all of you because there are so many questions about this difficult topic. Nobody\'s really faced a situation like this in our lifetimes, or in recent memory. So there\'re tons of questions out there, and we\'re going to try to help work everybody through these questions as best that we can. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/g0OhKOmK4sk

So I\'m Jason Rodriguez. I\'m the community and product evangelist at Litmus. You\'ve probably seen me on other webinars or writing over on the Litmus blog, but I\'m joined today by both Matthew Smith and Kristin Bond. 

Hi guys, welcome to the webinar. 

Matthew Smith: Great to be here. Thanks. 

Kristin Bond: Yeah. 

Jason Rodriguez: So Matthew, you\'re the founder of Really Good Emails.

Obviously you\'ve been on a couple of webinars with us before, but if anybody doesn\'t know, Really Good Emails is an amazing resource, amazing tool for seeing what other people are doing in the email world. You guys have put together an emergency emails category, which we have linked to here in a second.

Kristin, you\'re the senior director of email operations over at Girl Scouts. Litmus Live speaker extraordinaire and run the blog emailsnarketing.com. You\'ve been super helpful with sharing information about how people should react in a pretty uncertain times. 

So again, some great resources that are already out there. I also have some resources later on the webinar that we\'ll share as well, but Kristin you wrote this great post called, \\"What we owe each other: Marketing during the unthinkable\\". A great roundup of advice and opinions on how email marketers should be responding in this situation, and we\'re definitely gonna go through some of those ideas throughout this webinar. And then again, Really Good Emails, you put together a fantastic category in your database of emails around emergency emails. So check that out. There\'s a ton of great examples for how other companies, how other senders are handling situations like this.

So definitely worth looking through if your in that situation where you\'re trying to figure out how to handle this massive global emergency. We\'re here to answer your questions. We\'re going to try to get through as many as we can. 

But first we had a quick question for everyone here. We wanted to see how you\'re feeling as an email team. So we put together a quick little poll here, which I\'m going to start.

We\'ve gotten so many mixed responses from people, from marketing teams around the world, that are in kind of in one of three buckets here. They either have a plan in place and they\'re feeling pretty good, as good as one can feel, about this pandemic and messaging to their customers. Some people have a plan, but they\'re not really sure if it\'s the right plan, the right approach for tackling such a, kind of wild, chaotic time. And then a lot of people, I feel like the majority of email marketers out there don\'t really have a plan in place. They\'re kind of scrambling like all of us to address the pandemic and figure out the right tone, the right cadence, the right types of messages to send to their audience.

We\'re really curious how everybody\'s feeling out there in the audience today. It looks like about half of you have a plan, which is great to hear, but you\'re not sure it\'s the right one. Then it\'s kind of split between the other two options there.

So definitely a really trying situation, not only in work, but in life, in our personal relationships as we all try to work through, these really uncertain times. I\'m sure everybody\'s seen their inboxes just flooded with emails from all types of different senders, related to the coronavirus related to COVID-19.

How they\'re responding. How they\'re working with their employees to allow them to work at home and practice safe, social distancing. There\'s all kinds of messages out there. So the first question we kind of had was whether or not email is the right platform for those types of messages. All of our inboxes are flooded with these messages.

It can get really, really overwhelming. Why are people turning into email as the channel for getting these messages out there? I think, to me at least, I\'d love to hear your opinion, Matthew and Kristin, but to me at least, I feel like it\'s because email is this ubiquitous service. Everybody really has an email address.

Some people might not have access to social apps. Their companies might not be on social media. The people they follow aren\'t in social media. There\'s all these different channels, but email is one that everybody uses, everybody has access to, and it\'s this really kind of democratized platform, which allows us to talk to our subscribers when we need to.

I think that\'s really driving this use of email. It\'s also, as far as marketing channels go, it\'s relatively cheap to get that message out there and do it really, really quickly. Kristin and Matthew, what do you think? Why are people sending so many emails right now? 

Kristin Bond: Because it\'s easy. I mean we all know email\'s the best channel out of all of them, but it is something that can be done quickly. And even as we\'ve seen, many brands are just doing a very quick text-based one that maybe it wasn\'t so quick to put together. Cause I know the ones that we\'ve sent have had to go through lots of rounds of editing and approvals, but it is a channel that is easy to execute on quickly. Like you said, the cost is relatively low compared to other channels, and it is something that everyone can use. So yeah, I think that\'s why people are going to email. 

Matthew Smith: The other reason I think, or an other reason is email has the appropriate formality. Where social channels are going to generally be a little bit more relaxed, generally fun, the speed is a lot faster , and this is a, wow, this is serious. This is a moment to pause and reflect. 

Usually longer pieces of information. Also the integrity of the information is more important and so you don\'t want to miss something. With an email, you actually have that text, you can copy it, you can paste it, you can look at it. You can spend time with it.

With social, it\'s a lot more difficult to do that, right? So email as a channel, that\'s always been true across all kinds of different interactions, whereas social is appropriate for certain contexts. This is the correct context for this type of communication. 

Jason Rodriguez: Yeah, I totally agree. I feel like social far too often feels fleeting.

You think of like Instagram stories that are there for what, 60 seconds, then go away and you\'ll never really see them again. This is such an important situation. This is a global situation. We\'re all in this together, so we need that information to be more persistent. So I totally agree with that.

We\'re in a situation where everybody\'s using email, everybody\'s using this channel, and it seems like everybody\'s sending more emails than ever to try to get that message out, to try to reassure their subscribers and their customers. That brings us to our second poll. We\'re curious on whether or not your email sending habits have changed.

Just tell us if your email marketing has decreased. If you\'re shutting off some of those campaigns that you\'re sending, if you\'re rethinking some of your transactional emails, again, we\'ll talk about why that might be a good idea, why that might not be a good idea, during this webinar.

Whether or not there is no change whatsoever. There\'s a slight increase because you\'re sending out a couple of those messages around, how you\'re handling the situation, how you\'re helping out your employees and your customers, or if it\'s increased significantly because you\'re really leaning into that mastering and reassuring your customers.

It looks like a lot of people, although the majority of people around 60% right now, it looks like their emails have decreased, which was interesting. We\'ll get to, again, why that might be the case and why that might be the right approach for a lot of people, throughout this webinar.

Let\'s kick this off with Matthew and talking about this section we\'re going to go into. How to hopefully do crisis communication while how to handle, what types of messages you should send, who you should send them to, the right tone of voice for sending these kinds of emails.

Because I feel like that\'s where a lot of email marketers are struggling. They have never faced a situation like this, so they don\'t know exactly how to approach email marketing right now. So kick us off, Matthew, with what\'s the first thing we should all understand together. 

Matthew Smith: Thank you, Jason.

So one of the things that I travel around speaking about, just spoke at UNSPAM about recently, and will do more of that when traveling is a thing again and do online until then, is championing the idea that email is relationship designed. 

Oftentimes we think, okay, what kind of copy should I write?

And you think, how do I do that for email marketing? That\'s the wrong question. Instead think what frame of mind is a user, my audience, my customer. Kristin and brought up a wonderful comment, earlier today when we were talking, is that we\'re all experiencing this exact same thing together worldwide, which is a really rare experience, right?

That\'s unique and you have an opportunity to be extremely empathetic with your customers in a way that maybe you\'ve never had before, certainly in this lifetime. I think that engaging in that type of a relationship is a really easy way for you to just think about how you\'re going to communicate differently to your colleagues, to your family, to your friends, to the person that you\'re picking up your to go food at the restaurant.

How has that communication with them different, compared to how it was six weeks ago? Think about that adjustment. 

One of the things that we\'re getting to is that, if you look into the neuroscience of these experiences. Right now, all of us, unless you\'ve been doing meditation at about six hours a day for the last 15 years, we\'re all hijacked, right?

Our amygdala is really in charge right now. I don\'t know about you, but I find myself yelling at my kids a little bit more frequently. I\'m a little wound up. I\'m having to apologize. I\'m realizing that I\'m reacting to things. Well, that\'s because my amygdala is cycling and it\'s doing its job.

We\'ve been through evolution. We are made to do this. It\'s inappropriate response. But in email marketing, we have to slow down. We have to pause. We have to reflect and ask ourselves how we\'re reacting. So because everybody\'s in that way of thinking, your customers are there. There is something that is really priority for them, and that\'s safety.

We\'ve really got to move into that way of thinking. So this is Maslow\'s hierarchy of needs. If you haven\'t seen this before, it\'s a well established, psychological protocol that has been around, I think for 50 or 60 years. The idea is that during anybody\'s life, first, we need to have our physiological needs met, right?

So obviously we need food and shelter and water and sleep and clothing and reproduction. All those kinds of base human needs need to be met. Right now we\'re in these two bottom levels. First, we\'re in a safety zone, right? We need these personal security, employment, resources, health and property. We need to make sure that those are okay.

The economy. We\'re like, where\'s this going? That creates a lot of insecurity, not just in the mind, but in the body. The body experiences that, and that\'s how the brain works, is it sends all these signals and that\'s why you might have tightness in your chest or in your belly. Those kinds of experiences.

Your customers are experiencing this, so how can you communicate to them in a way that is creating safety, security. Generally, I like to think you can mirror back to them what you think they might be experiencing or what you\'re hearing from them. We have heard from you, these are the things you\'re telling us you\'re feeling. Here\'s our response. 

You\'re mirroring back to them so that they feel heard. You\'re doing something consistently. Consistency creates safety. Lack of consistency creates confusion. So geared toward consistency. We\'re going to send you an email once a week to let you know what\'s happening with our company on this time.

Here\'s what you can expect, right? You create that underlying sort of blanket of security. Anything that you can think to do to create that type of security and that safety or really help them. I\'m getting a little note from the IRS. We\'re not going to get your tax returns until July now. SWEET, you know, like giving me real security and safety, right? 

That feels good. So those kinds of messages, anything that you can do to reassure your customers and then to move into that love and belonging expression, empathy, we get it. We were working on our email this morning and kids are running around. This gets kinda crazy. We\'re in this together. We\'re there for you. We\'re with you. That creates, again, comfort and security. 

This is what I\'m working on. I\'m working on both Really Good Emails, you can see a lot of our examples that we put up in the emergency category, and then on my design studio as well. Clients are hitting us up looking for recommendations and experiences, email design changes that accomplish these goals.

So this is where we\'re starting.

Here\'s an example. This is Resy. I don\'t know if you follow as they\'ve got a bunch of emails on Really Good Emails, but, this was, to me, a great example of being able to take your business strategy, something that you already do. So they provide reservations to restaurants. That industry could tank in a heartbeat, right?

With normal ways of working because people aren\'t going into restaurants right now. So how do you respond? Okay. Resy is going to figure out how to send a on-point message to help people get food, take out and delivery. Wow. Great pivot. It\'s still their normal branding. But you can see in their language, they\'re being serious, clear, they\'re giving clear information.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/bring-your-favorite-restaurants-home/

They\'re not making fun of anything. Now, this is a really fun brand and it could feel a little bit off, but they\'re not putting anything out there that feels goofy or overly happy. It\'s just, okay, here\'s how you get this done. They\'re still being themselves, but they\'re showing an opportunity here and I think that\'s great. 

Another one. This is from CNN. They\'re all about sharing information, but one of the things that they\'re doing here is they\'re serving their customers, right?

I am scared. I don\'t know what is fact or fiction. I can\'t tell how to sort these things out. Oh wow, this is really serving me. This is giving me answers about what is what. So tell me fact or fiction, giving me data and perspectives on how things look out there. Super helpful. And then being able to know, okay, what\'s on their radar and what are some tips?

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/latest-news-for-march-18-2020/

Oh, look at these Q&A. All that kind of information. So you might be thinking for your customers. What are the questions that we have unique answers to for our customers that would again, drive safety, security, or positivity? I\'m like very interested in positivity right now. How can we get this sense of like.

Hey, this is a really challenging situation, but here are some things that come out of it. For instance, I\'ve been seeing people come together who aren\'t naturally connected. I\'ve been seeing families who have some, challenges come together in like connection and intimacy and like a bonding.

That\'s powerful. So how can we talk about positivity there? So what are the questions that you have unique answers to that create that bonding with your customers? I think that\'s what I\'m seeing out there, but go and hit up Really Good Emails to see some of these examples. We\'ve relaxed some of our design standards for this category, but still fantastic copy.

So anytime that we see good copy and good communication, that\'s what we\'re putting in there. 

Jason Rodriguez: Awesome. I love this email specifically because it tackles that safety section of Maslow\'s hierarchy so effectively. We need this really concrete, straight forward information, but it also represents that idea that we\'re all in this together.

I like that quote in the, \\"What\'s most important today\\" section. The coronavirus doesn\'t care if you\'re Democrat or Republican. I feel like it\'s reinforcing that sense that we\'re all in this together. We\'re all trying to get that same understanding, which is super, super helpful. So Kristin can talk to us again about what are some of those emails that are helpful for subscribers beyond just what we\'ve seen so far.

Kristin Bond: Sure. You really want to think about where your subscribers are at right now and what they\'re experiencing and well, we can\'t know everyone\'s personal situation exactly, we have a general idea that everyone is on an elevated emotions for various reasons. There\'s an email that I got this week that I thought was really great, from an app called Calm, which is a mindfulness and relaxation app. I use it to fall asleep. They can read you bedtime stories. They\'ve got a great one where they just read GDPR to you to help you fall asleep. They did that to also learn about GDPR, but they sent this great email with...

Matthew Smith: That\'s incredible.

Kristin Bond: Isn\'t it awesome? Yeah. That\'s what made me pay for the app actually. They sent this great email that offered similar content, what they normally offer only for free, and encouraging their customers to share it with other people who may or may not already have it. So I think this is brilliant from just an empathy perspective of here\'s something helpful to help you relax.

The nice thing about it too, from a marketing perspective, it\'s introducing your product and resources to other potential new customers who might find it helpful. Just really checking all the boxes there with being useful but also still helping to serve your business needs. Cause I know that is something that everyone is trying to figure out the balance of right now. And granted, not every company has the fortunate opportunity of having a product that is super relevant right now, but if there is a way to figure out how your product could be relevant to people right now and you are able to do this, this is a great way to do so.

As you\'re figuring out what you should send, or if you should even send anything, it\'s important to think about where your customers are and what they\'re doing. We\'re kind of in a weird spot right now cause it\'s a very rare moment where a lot of them are probably doing the same thing, which is not likely the case most of the time.

So most of your customers are likely hold up at home and might not have their normal comforts and resources that they would normally have just in their day to day life. They don\'t have their kids at school. They might not be going into an office everyday if they\'re used to it, or they might have the instability of not being able to work at all because they\'re in a service industry.

Think about how you would feel if you got an email from someone asking you to buy something expensive if you just found out that you\'re not going to be able to work for six weeks and won\'t be paid during that. That\'s really tough and that can really put a sour taste in your mouth from a brand.

Another thing that I\'ve seen companies doing is sending emails saying, here\'s some fun distractions! For some brands I know it seems like a good thing to do because yes, everyone is very stressed and might welcome fun distractions. If anyone is in a place to send emails with pictures of puppies, I would like to receive those emails, but also keep in mind, not everyone is just having a fun staycation at home where they\'re trying to kill time and they\'re just trying to figure out how to keep themselves entertained. A lot of people are really struggling right now. Some people really don\'t like working from home or don\'t know how to work from home effectively, and they\'re struggling to figure out how to do their job.

There could be people who are dealing with that and also dealing with taking care of their kids because their schools or daycares are closed, or maybe their kids stay with the grandparent normally and aren\'t able to right now. So there are a lot of people right now who are trying to figure out how to continue to do their jobs and also take care of their kids, myself included.

I agreed to do this webinar because it was during my son\'s normal nap time and I knew I would be able to. I think being mindful of that if you are sending an email with here\'s some fun distractions or here\'s some things to entertain yourself, some people might be really struggling right now and trying to entertain themselves as the last thing on their mind. 

Of course there\'s all the people who are actually sick right now or are taking care of a loved one, or worried about a loved one who is sick. Fun distractions might seem insensitive for them right now. So I\'m not saying don\'t send an email with fun distractions, but I am saying just be very thoughtful about not everyone on your subscriber list is necessarily looking for a fun distraction.

One thing to keep in mind right now and just in general with your emails, all of these suggestions that we\'re giving about being mindful about where your subscribers are at, those are always true. I mean, right now they\'re elevated, certainly because of a pandemic that everyone is experiencing, but empathy is always a good idea.

It\'s always important to keep in mind that, yeah, my subscribers might not have my product at the top of their mind right now and that\'s okay sometimes. Useful and relevant content is always a good idea and people have other things going on in their lives besides reading your emails, always. But especially now and ironically, like right now, it might actually be a little bit easier to figure out what\'s going on with people\'s lives just because everyone is in such a similar situation where they are holed up at home and unable to leave their house.

In general, empathy is always a good idea whether we are going through a global pandemic or not. 

Jason Rodriguez: I like that idea of people have other things going on, other priorities, in a situation like this. Which I think is the perfect segue into this idea that we should only be sending something if it truly makes sense.

We saw earlier that inbox view, of just all these different emails, all with similar subject lines and a lot of them kind of saying the exact same thing over and over. So something like this on the left where a company sends something to their customers that just says, we care about the health and safety of our employees and customers. As a result, we are now cleaning our stores everyday and letting our employees work from home and we just want you to stay safe. It\'s nice to kind of hear that, like it helps with that part of the pyramid around, belonging and love because it\'s that company expressing their concern for their customers. 

But it\'s not really doing anything helpful like Kristin was talking about. It\'s not really providing any real value. Beyond that, and I feel like a good example of an email that should be sent and was done really well is from Carrot fertility, which provides services and information for people that want to become parents are in the process of trying to become parents, and one of the things they recognize is that there\'s a lot of confusion.

There\'s a lot of stress and anxiety and fear around how coronavirus and COVID-19 affects fertilization and how it affects people that are pregnant and expecting children. I feel like it\'s a great use of their email program to set up a webinar, set up all that information so they can get it out to their customers. Address the situation that everybody\'s facing, but which their customers specifically have increased anxiety over. I think that\'s one case where that\'s a really good use of email, whereas a lot of these other kind of generic types of messages, from random people at a company that you\'ve never really heard about or you don\'t know who they are, aren\'t necessarily as effective and perhaps shouldn\'t have been sent in the first place.

McDonald\'s does this really well too. They sent out an email talking about how they\'re addressing this pandemic across all of their different locations. Which is important because McDonald\'s and a lot of communities provides a really important core service, and they know that it\'s a community meeting spot for so many different people.

It\'s not just a place where people go and get quick food after soccer practice or something like that. It\'s a meeting place for a lot of people and they\'re addressing that by ensuring that they\'re still saying open. They\'re going to be providing those meals, but they\'re encouraging people to move to the drive thru or delivery or take out by walking in and they\'re closing down the seating or they\'re sanitizing their play place.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/were-here-to-serve-you/

It\'s all that kind of stuff and I think they do a really good job of conveying all of that, the steps, the concrete steps that they\'re taking to ensure that their employees are safe, that their community is safe, that all of their customers are as safe as possible. it\'s not just offering condolences or well wishes during a troubling time. It\'s giving you really helpful information about how an important place in your community is tackling this type of situation. 

I think this idea kind of threads through all of this is that. The world right now is very chaotic. It feels very uncertain. It\'s increasing people\'s levels of anxiety and our goal as email markers is not to add to that chaos, is to not overwhelm people. To really think about what we\'re sending people when we\'re sending it, what kind of messaging we\'re using, what kind of value we\'re providing so that we do it right and that we try to reassure people, we try to calm them and we try to give them the tools they need to handle such a difficult time and that we\'re not adding to that chaos. 

There\'s this great tweet out there from Tom Tate. A great email marketer. He spoke at Litmus Live before, and I think he sums it up really well: 

Should all of your email marketing be COVID-19th centric for the next four weeks? No, absolutely not. But should your marketing be sensitive to the fact that the world is a thousand times different this week than it was last week? 

I think that\'s where we should all be focusing on. We need to understand that so much has changed so quickly and really take that into account and look at all of our email marketing, all of our marketing and what we do through that lens and try to understand it, through our subscribers eyes, through our customer\'s eyes, so that we can be as helpful as we can without adding to that chaos.

I did see a question in there, and which was perfect cause we have this poll set up, around, how people that have sent these types of emails, anything coronavirus related to their subscribers. How is it actually performing? I\'d love to hear from everybody in attendance here, whether they\'re COVID-19 emails, performed better? Did they receive higher opens, higher click through rates on resources that you may have provided? You\'ve seen like buzz on Twitter or social media or seen replies, from your subscribers , thanking you or engaging you in a conversation outside of that email. Are you seeing that kind of stuff? Is that better than normal sends about the same or is it worse than usual sends?

I\'m very curious to see how people that have been sending these emails, are actually seeing that performance be effected. I think it\'s something a lot of people are weighing right now as they try to figure out what kind of communication or whether or not they should actually send the communication to their customers around COVID-19. 

It looks like about 50%. We\'re seeing better than normal engagement in those emails and then 38% about the same and then 11% worse than usual sends. So I\'m curious, I wish I had like a inbox set up with all of those to see what kind of emails are actually sending.

My suspicion is that that subject line and the content of the emails were really going to affect that. Especially as we see that inbox view with all these different emails out there. 

Let\'s get into some of the mistakes that we\'ve seen out there that we think email marketers should hopefully be avoiding. The first one I wanted to talk about is just this idea of capitalizing on fear and anxiety.

As we\'ve seen, everybody\'s experiencing this fear, experiencing this anxiety because so much is uncertain and so much is changing so quickly. The last thing we think that people should be seeing from you is trying to capitalize on that. There\'s this great article on Gartner from Augie Ray talking about this global pandemic.

They address this idea that the global pandemic may be a business opportunity for you. I\'m seeing that in the chat on GoToWebinar as well there\'s a lot of people asking about their companies, like it could be beneficial for their company because they provide a service or a product that works really well for people that are sequestered at home that need certain services, but it might not be the best marketing opportunity for your brand depending on how you approach it. Because if it\'s coming across as you just trying to capitalize on this pandemic, then that\'s not really a good look for you and your company, and that\'s something you\'re really trying to avoid.

A great example of this is an unnamed yoga studio from Matt Byrd. Another email geek. The subject line here is coronavirus sale and it\'s all about selling you, packages to get yoga classes during the coronavirus. It comes across as very insensitive and not a great way to approach messaging your customers or your potential customers because it\' this kinda like profiteering type mentality and that usually doesn\'t go across really well.

Again, we look at this example that Kristin received from Calm that says, this just feels so much better. Not only is Calm providing resources, but they\'re making sure that those resources are free for anybody that needs them. They\'re not just doing a money grab because they know they can get that money out of potential customers.

It\'s addressing those different pyramids on Maslow\'s hierarchy around safety and wellbeing on top of love and support and community. So I think that kind of approach is much, much better. When you can do things that provide value, that help decrease people\'s sense of anxiety, and just that sense of chaos that everybody\'s contending with.

That\'s when you\'re going to see your email program be more successful and you\'re going to see people trust your brand more. And that\'s really what we\'re kind of in the business of, is creating trust filled relationships with our subscribers. This one I think was great too, is reviewing your automated emails, and I think Kristin your going to talk about this a little bit, right? 

Kristin Bond: Thanks everyone. You probably know to tweak or edit the planned emails that are not automated, just your regular ones that are going out. But don\'t forget to look at your automated ones. 

I did this in the last few days, and there are a couple of emails that under normal circumstances would have been perfectly fine to send out and super on point and ready for our brand and just what we needed to send, but right now they could be interpreted a little bit differently. So for instance, I work at Girl Scouts and it is Girl Scout cookie season. We have an automated series that goes out to regular people who are not Girl Scouts just telling them when Girl Scout cookie season is happening in their area and how to find a booth sale.

But we just suspended booth sales because it\'s not safe for girls to be out there touching money and being around people. So we shouldn\'t be sending out emails right now telling people to go find a booth sale. So I had to stop those emails. And then likewise, we have a welcome email that we send to new members . It\'s a whole series of five emails. 

The first email talks about a Girl Scout tradition doing a friendship circle, which is holding hands in a circle and squeezing them. Just passing a squeeze around in a circle. It\'s really sweet. And then there\'s like a song they sing with it. That\'s not something we want to tell people to do right now.

Holding hands in a circle is the exact opposite of social distancing. So we had to adjust that series because even though in this particular context, it makes it a sound really out of touch and like we aren\'t paying attention to what\'s happening in the world. Even though under any other circumstances, it\'s a perfectly normal email for us to send.

So ours at least are hopefully understandable, but we made the adjustments that we needed to, but other brands haven\'t been so lucky. This wasn\'t a likely automated email sent by an airline saying never a better time to fly. I hope it was automated and that they just missed it and that they weren\'t intentionally sending this right now because I think everyone knows there could not be a worse time to fly right now.

So this email definitely looked out of touch and inappropriate, and anyone who received it probably was confused and wondered if there\'s airline knew what was happening or if they were continuing with their normal business as usual, which for many businesses that\'s not okay right now, and especially airlines.

If you have automated emails, take a look at them. Even things like welcome series or reminder emails for instance, like anything that might have a time is running out or this is your last chance to do something, which I know many of us send. That could be interpreted a little bit differently, like time is running out or your last chance or anything that normally might be standard marketing with just a little sense of urgency right now as people are dying, like telling people it\'s their last chance for something just really isn\'t appropriate right now.

You shouldn\'t be sending emails like this to your entire list right now. I know I\'ve gotten quite a few emails from brands that I maybe unsubscribed from awhile ago that maybe shouldn\'t have been sending an email anyway, but especially to people who haven\'t engaged with their brand in a long time. It just doesn\'t make sense and it\'s probably not transactional.

I likened it to GDPR when everyone was sending emails to everyone that they had an email address for and in that case, that made sense. But right now, if your brand doesn\'t have any reason to respond or send a COVID-19 email at all when you shouldn\'t, but if it\'s not directly related to people who are currently doing business with you in some form, it just doesn\'t make sense to send.

It can be really confusing. It also puts you at risk for spam complaints and deliverability issues. People might see it as insensitive. At best, they\'ll unsubscribe if they can. At worst, they\'re going to report you as spam and hate your brand, and that\'s probably not something you want. Now, just like always, segmentation is really important.

Think about who actually has a reason to hear a message from you. So if you are an event organizer and there are changes being made to the event, which there probably are, whether that is canceling it completely or postponing it or making it online. Send it to the people who have signed up for your event.

They need to know that. They need to make whatever adjustments they need to make for that. If you have people who are actively participating with your brand in some other way, maybe if they have a shipping item that they need updates on. If they\'re going to be shipping delays because your distribution centers closed, for instance, segment those emails and send what is relevant to people.

If you\'re just sending a standard promotional email, now might not be the time. If you are sending it, you really want to make sure it is relevant. And again, these aren\'t tips just for during a global pandemic. These are tips for always. You should always be segmenting your emails and sending something when it\'s relevant and who it\'s relevant to. 

Jason Rodriguez: The last thing we just want to touch on briefly before we get to everybody\'s questions is, and maybe Matthew can speak to this because I know you\'re so into copywriting and just what people are sending out there, but is just that tone of all of your emails and what you\'re actually sending.

So Matthew, I guess how do you think about communicating effectively, but in the right tone of voice for situations like this? 

Matthew Smith: Yeah. Great question, Jason. Thank you. It goes back to this relational idea, right? We were talking about this a little bit before, and I think the anecdote that I came up with is, if my girlfriend were going through a difficult time, like maybe with a family member, maybe her dad was not feeling well or medically ill, just for some, random circumstance. I wouldn\'t be relating to her like everything was normal. And if I were, that would be really narcissistic. Right? So a lot of times when we relate to our customers totally out of context of what\'s going on in their lives, or everyone\'s life in this scenario. You can look up the qualities of somebody who suffers from narcissism. That\'s how they relate. They are totally unaware of what is happening in somebody else\'s life.

Like their empathy index is zero, right? So don\'t be like that, but instead, take that into context. If I were going to ask my girlfriend out on a date, I would say. Hey, I\'d like to take you out if that\'s something that would serve you . It\'d be a way to get away from what you\'re experiencing, but if not, I\'m here to do what you would like to do.

These kinds of ways of relating. Take the context that is happening right now and filter it through and think about like a good sort of quick test would be would I feel comfortable sending if my mom or dad or sister or good friend were experiencing fear, anxiety, huge amounts of change.

Would I be willing to send them this kind of email if they were part of this audience and didn\'t know me? I think that\'s a a good way for you to think about it. Just ask yourself, is this serving the customer or is this about, protecting me and protecting our business? Now, ultimately, I believe and have seen over and over when we serve our customers with great fidelity, real care, addressing their actual needs, actual problems, actual pain points, our businesses thrive and do incredibly well. 

Now with voice and tone, it\'s difficult, like Really Good Emails is known for being super cheeky and a little bit edgy, and sometimes we even get in trouble with that. That\'s totally inappropriate right now for us to push the limits on that. I saw somebody talking in the emailgeeks channel this last week, and I think they were right on the edge.

It\'s an interesting question. Their particular audience is kind of a four wheeler, not quite monster truck, but like heading in that direction. And what they did is they photoshopped something that was fairly funny. It was like toilet paper rolls as wheels. And I thought, Oh, that was, that\'s really clever and silly, but wow.

Like what if one of those customers or several of those customers have either lost a loved one to COVID-19 or maybe are out of toilet paper and are feeling a lot of fear about that. Like toilet paper issues aside. That\'s a strange phenomenon happening right now. But what if that doesn\'t connect?

You\'re taking a big risk, right? So err on the side of caution. Get to know your audience like a bank, it needs to be way more serious than a food ordering app. So get that context into place and the treat it relationally. That\'s how I think about it. 

Jason Rodriguez: Awesome. I think that\'s all stellar advice and address a lot of the questions that we\'ve seen so far, but we do have a ton of questions. The first one is, should we pause all promotional emails immediately? Kristin, what\'s your advice on that?

Kristin Bond: Maybe, I mean, again, it\'s going to depend on your brand, but I think it\'s definitely worth revisiting the content of them. Like St Patrick\'s Day was this week, and I know a lot of brands might typically send out a St Patrick\'s Day promotion, but people aren\'t going out drinking right now or celebrating in the way that they normally would.

I\'m not saying that you shouldn\'t necessarily pause everything, but I think you should take pause and take a moment and review the content and make sure it sounds right and make sure it doesn\'t sound callous or insensitive right now, so don\'t necessarily pause it or stop all marketing, but just be a lot more thoughtful about it than you might otherwise.

Jason Rodriguez: Matthew, anything to add on there?

Matthew Smith: I think we\'ve really covered it. I just think being thoughtful and treating all of these things from a relational perspective is always going to be my M.O. I think we\'re all really smart people. Oftentimes we do something where we put on a marketing hat and then we forget our relationship. We know this stuff. We wouldn\'t treat our family or friends or colleagues this way. Why are we sending this stuff in email? We move into this sort of weird transactional, way of relating. Take those transactional clothes off and underneath, I think you\'ll remember that you\'ve got human skin and really with that, and actually these are the kinds of things we should always be doing.

Jason Rodriguez: It\'s kind of unfortunate it takes a crisis like this to have that sense of humanity instilled in us but hopefully it\'s a good reminder and kind of wake up call for everybody to start doing that throughout and during this crisis and far after it as well. I think that goes for, I\'ve seen a lot of questions around, should we pause our promotional emails, should we pause our transactional emails, our onboarding emails? Should we send our monthly newsletter? 

I think that lens is how you should be all of those. Review what you have scheduled.Review what is sent automatically. Review what you have, kind of down the road in the pipeline and take that into account and the context of where people are, what they\'re doing, how the situation is evolving so rapidly.

Just ask yourself whether or not you would want to receive something like that. Whether or not that\'s helpful for you or your customers, your family members, and use that as the lens with which you look at everything and try to figure out that question. 

There was a really great question around, if we are pausing all these email campaigns, will halting those emails sends effect our email deliverability rate? And while I don\'t think any of us three would consider ourselves email deliverability experts, We were talking about this a little bit before the actual webinar. I think we are in pretty good agreement that it\'s unlikely that somebody is going to be pausing everything that they\'re sending. 

They might still be sending that kind of a notification type email about what they\'re doing, how they\'re handling the situation. Chances are good that your transactional, like your account-based emails are still going to be scheduled. They\'re still going to be automated and going out, so if you\'re still having some of those emails go out, then it\'s unlikely that you\'ll see any big hits in deliverability issues. 

But like Kristin and mentioned earlier, like the real danger there is if you\'re sending insensitive emails, untimely emails and people are becoming offended or annoyed by them, then you could see some more significant issues when you see people unsubscribing or God forbid, marking you as spam.

Matthew Smith: Jason, to that effect, one of the things I was just thinking about is this idea of if you\'ve got a company that is sending out emails, if you\'re concerned about that at all, the opportunity would be for you to potentially. I think this is called breaking the fourth wall, or breaking one of the third, fourth wall.

 There\'s this, actor and audience relationship, right? So breaking the fourth wall is about getting out of the play or the movie or whatever, and talking directly to that audience. The Big Short is an example of this. 

What happens if your business, for instance, is all around running an airline? 

You\'re suddenly grounded. So do you stop sending any emails at all? What if you pause and you said, Hey, we\'re sitting here. We\'ve really curtailed a lot of our flights , so in between now and when we start back up, we wanted to start doing every Wednesday story time. So we\'re going to tell you a story about some of the most amazing travel experiences we\'ve heard about over the last 15 years of our practices that really inspired us to keep doing what we\'re doing. While we\'re all cooped up inside, it\'s fun to imagine and dream. Come along with this journey with us. That\'d be amazing. I subscribe to that, like I would become a customer just to read those. So these are the kinds of opportunities where we can completely diverge from the direction we were going or the ways we were marketing and know that if I can create a connection with my customer. 

Back to neuroscience. When you actually create a bonding moment through safety and security and connection mirroring, when somebody feels listened to and heard. It releases oxytocin in the brain, which creates bonding. That same kind of thing can happen in a relationship, in email. So every time you do that, that bonding gets stronger and stronger, especially if you move from just a transactional relationship into something more organic and meaningful. 

Without capitalizing on this. This is a really cool opportunity to break that fourth wall, get engaged and do something unique and different and possibly get mentioned for it or noticed for it. So get together with your team or if it\'s yourself and strategize what you could do that would be really relational and really connecting, but do it for your audience.

There\'s no sort of best practice for all things, right? Just get in there and figure out who your audience are. 

Jason Rodriguez: So Kristin I want to direct this question to you and we\'ve gotten a couple of variations of this, just cause I know you manage, I pretty large distributed team, lot of different people, a lot of different stakeholders.

I\'ve seen a few people ask , how do you get your stakeholders on board for taking our advice for doing things and what we think is the right way to approach email in times of crisis, especially when you might have stakeholders or bosses that are trying to profit off of something like this or trying to take advantage of people\'s sense of anxiety or fear.

How do you get those stakeholders on board and how do you make that case for doing this in a more compassionate way? 

Kristin Bond: I mean, as always, look at the numbers. If you\'ve sent out an email about this and it\'s not performing well, that\'s a sign, of course, cause any insanity is continuing to do the same thing over and over with expecting different results.

So don\'t do that. One thing that happened in a meeting yesterday. Our just general creative team meeting, we were talking about like, Hey, how do we need to change things? What do we need to change? How do we convince other teams that we need to all be on the same page here? And our person who is the head of customer care on social media and just our general call center brought up, use me as a resource. I hear every single complaint from every single customer, every comment. Every piece of feedback that people give. Chances are anything that we have ever posted on social media about or done publicly, someone has given feedback on it that would support why we should or shouldn\'t do it. So she suggested using her as a resource.

And I\'m not to say that everyone hates Girl Scouts and has complaints, but we have a lot of stakeholders and we have a lot of opinions about things. And so if you\'re needing evidence of this is how customers feel about this, if you can gather tweets that people have done or comments or cases or calls to your customer service team that can be valuable.

If your pairing those with the actual numbers of, Hey, sending three reminder emails is not effective right now because people don\'t want to purchase things from my brand right now. That can be effective. So use your data that you have. Another team to loop in is your public relations or communications team because they are trained in this.

They do this every day. Just general crisis communications. They understand like, okay, if we say this, here are the possible outcomes and possible ways that people could react and then they can really help you craft a correct response, but also help you tweak your message in a way where you are still communicating what you need to communicate, not in a way that will upset people and offend people. You can\'t look at this in the short term of we need to make money this week or this month, because the reality is most brands probably might not like, there\'s so many factors financially right now, but you need to think longterm.

If you upset people right now and then they unsubscribe, you won\'t be able to market to them later when they might be more interested in making a purchase. 

Matthew Smith: You said something, Kristin, and that made me think another recommendation would be looking up articles on crisis resolution, looking up articles on, psychology of handling emergencies in your workplace, things that are unrelated to email marketing specifically, but are around that topic and category.

See what you can learn and gain, and then interpret toward the work that we do. I\'ve done a lot of that just in understanding emotional intelligence and trying to figure out how emotional intelligence as a concept can be retooled toward email marketing. So this is a great example of that.

Jason Rodriguez: Yeah, totally. From a very concrete perspective too. Use Really Good Emails. Use your own inbox and look at while the other people are doing. Cherry pick those emails that you think were really effective or you really appreciate as a subscriber yourself and present those to stakeholders as these ideal examples of what other companies are doing and how they\'re handling the situation.

A lot of times people will make decisions without understanding what else is out there or like how other people are approaching those challenges, but if you put those different ideas in front of them, it\'ll start their brain turning. They\'ll see that there are better ways to approach things. So use those examples heavily. 

Kristin Bond: Yeah. None of us are sending emails in vacuum. I mean, you saw those screenshots of the inbox earlier. We\'re all getting lots of emails from other brands right now. So if you do send something that\'s really out of touch, it\'s going to stick out and people will notice, and you may have a high open rate, but not for the reasons you want.

Jason Rodriguez: There\'s two more questions I\'d love to get to. Kristen, since you work for the Girl Scouts, you\'re a nonprofit. I\'ve seen a bunch of different questions around how nonprofits should handle this situation in particular.

If you\'re in a nonprofit, you\'re constantly fundraising. That\'s what the large bulk of your email marketing kind of works towards. So how should nonprofits think about this? Or how should they reposition their email marketing strategy, especially when fundraising is still so important to their livelihood?

Kristin Bond: Yeah, it\'s definitely going to depend on what your nonprofit does. Back to the Maslow\'s Hierarchy of needs. If you\'re an arts nonprofit, your messaging is going to be very different from if you provide vital human services. But if you are lucky enough to work for one that provides vitals services, now is your time to shine.

You can send emails talking about here\'s what we do, here\'s how we are helping the community right now. And that can either take the form of, if you need these resources, here\'s how to access them. Or if you don\'t need these resources and you are able to help us, provide them to others, here\'s one way to do it.

Cause I know a lot of people who are in a better financial situation right now might be feeling anxious and might feel better by helping other people. If you give them an opportunity to do that, that\'s a great way to look at it. There are lots of other goals nonprofits might have. Like for mine, we\'re membership-based and spring is a very important time for us to get members to renew for next year.

So we\'re having to rethink our strategy on that a little bit about the timing . If we were to send all these emails right now, telling people to sign up for Girl Scouts for the fall, people might not be as receptive to that right now, but they will be soon, and I hope they do renew. You really just need to think about, like we\'ve been saying, where your customers are and how can what my organization does help our subscribers and give them a sense of purpose if possible.

Matthew Smith: I think that\'s right. It\'s exciting. I was thinking about your idea about like an art organization or something. People are stuck at home being able to be creative, draw color, paint, take photos, even if things around their home. These are great ways that an organization could remind people that being creative can help them relax in a troubling time.

We talked about it earlier, just breaking out of that kind of marketing model and thinking about how to serve your customer as a guide or as almost like a in a therapy mode or connecting mode rather than your normal role. 

Kristin Bond: Yeah, I\'ve seen the Met Opera is live streaming operas right now, so people can watch them like that\'s super cool, and it might get new people. That\'s rare. I mean not everyone has the opportunity to go to an opera and then that potentially gets them new customers down the road when they\'re able to, but it also provides a useful service to people. 

Jason Rodriguez: Totally. Yeah. So we\'re pretty much out of time here. Before we wrap up, I wanted to just let everybody know that we put together this guide, that kinda coincides with this webinar. Quick little PDF guide that we put together about how you should handle marketing during a crisis.

It has a couple of checklists, a couple of ideas for some of the first steps you should take. The questions you should ask yourself before you actually send an email related to that crisis. And then links to a bunch of resources that we\'ve put together that we\'ve also found from other people, that we find really helpful when thinking through some of these really thorny issues.

So definitely check that out and again, just look at your own inboxes. Look at resources like Twitter. Look at the emailgeeks Slack channel, which if you\'re not already a part of, you can sign up at email.geeks.chat.

Everybody\'s kind of in this together. We\'re all trying to figure this stuff out at the same time, and we\'re all facing the same challenges. So hopefully we can do that together as a community, as a world, as a global community, and try to make the best of this really troubling trying situation and help each other out as much as we possibly can.

So with that, thank you so much to Matthew and Kristin for taking time out of what I can only imagine is a horribly busy time like everybody else to join us today and to prep on such short notice. I really, really appreciate it and we look forward to having you come back.

Kristin Bond: Yea. Thanks for having me. 

Jason Rodriguez: We\'ll kind of keep an eye on the situation like everybody else and hopefully we\'ll have you both back again soon, on a future live this webinar. 

Matthew Smith: That sounds great. And, Jason, for me at least, I can say, my Twitter DMs are open if people have questions. 

Jason Rodriguez: Awesome.

Matthew Smith: So happy to just, try and be helpful. So thanks for having me. 

Kristin Bond: Yep. Mine are too. Yea. Thanks everyone.

Jason Rodriguez: Same here. Hit us all up on Twitter. We\'ll try to be timely in our responses. If we didn\'t get to your question or something, we\'re all available. Thank you everybody for taking time out of your day as well, and we\'ll see you in the next webinar. Cheers. Bye everybody. 

Matthew Smith: Thank you. Good luck.

BetterBrand's emails are designed to be both informative and visually appealing. They use live text, clear CTAs, and engaging imagery to capture attention and drive sales.

• The emails are designed to look good enough to eat, which aligns with the brand's healthy but delicious products.
• The emails use a variety of marketing channels, including email, social media, and SMS, to reach customers wherever they are.
• The emails are created to drive sales, but they also aim to provide value to customers by offering exclusive content and discounts.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/J0MR2xL5tUE

Matt: Hey, it's Matt Helbig, and welcome back to Feedback Friday. Today, I'm talking to Alissa Taggart and Vira Sadlak from Flowium about the emails they've been working on with BetterBrand. I've been impressed with the emails coming out of BetterBrand. I'd love to walk through some of them and get your thoughts.

Alissa: Yeah. So some insight quick on the brand itself.

BetterBrand, they've created the Better Bagel, which is almost too good to be the true version of the bagel. Everyone that I know loves bagels. If you don't, I'm sorry, that's kind of strange to me. Bagels are super high in carbs, high in sugar, and pretty low in protein. It's this guilty pleasure that everyone has where they're like, I want a bagel. You eat a bagel, and you feel terrible about it later.

With BetterBrand, their bagel is 26 grams of protein, 5 grams of net carbs, and 1 gram of sugar. They're fluffy, taste like a standard bagel, and are plant-based, which is fantastic. BetterBrand is within the food tech space. Amy Yang is the founder, and she's a very remarkable woman. So if you ever have a chance to read up about her, definitely do. She's got one heck of a brain to come up with something like this.

The thing that they try to focus on are people who are more forward-thinking, like more innovative, who fit within that realm of the food tech space, who want to continue living their life in a pleasurable way, but without all the guilt and the shame and all the stuff that's added towards it. They are people focused on living a good life but not forsaking or compromising what they enjoy. Their main things are concentrating on the forward thinker, innovative people, and consumers who want to break boundaries in a positive way that excites and energizes them.

There was back and forth regarding our agency with their team and understanding and honing in on the look and feel of these emails. It took a while, but we did eventually get there. If you check out their website, it is super cool too.

Whenever we create emails, we try to find something that balances their website and what their brand represents. That direct replica sometimes is a little boring. We feel like we've hit the nail on the head, and it's cool to hear that these emails are popular on Really Good Emails and that you guys are enjoying them. We are excited to walk through some of these and discuss some cool elements.

Shout out to our senior designer over at Flowium, Luis. He's based in Puerto Rico. I mean, the skill that this guy has, it's so amazing. We sent the brand to him, and we said, please help. We need to revamp what's going on. We're going back and forth. He returned with these designs, and everyone on our team, including the client, was like, what just happened? These emails are excellent. So we ran with it, and here we are. So very excited to talk about these.

Matt: I'm impressed with how you've balanced live text and imagery in these emails. It's great to see so much live text, especially compared to other direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands that use one Photoshop export and put it in a template. However, seeing these templates use live text and be more accessible is awesome.

Alissa: Our timelines tend to be a little longer than most agencies would offer for clients because we focus on bringing the brand to life within the context of an email, but deliverability is a huge thing for us.

Deliverability goes down the drain when you're doing all image-based emails. There's not a lot that customers can interact with. Sometimes the images don't show, and sometimes the email clips. It becomes problematic.

Our designers focus on finding the perfect balance between imagery and live text so the emails flow within themselves. It's easier for a customer to interact with and look at and easier to receive, and it doesn't negatively impact deliverability in the long run, which again is a focus for us at our agency.

Matt: I love how you used bagels as bullet points in this email. It's a great way to break down the ingredients visually appealingly.

Alissa: This is an exciting one. We created this original design for them, and the client felt it was a little off-brand. I know we have a couple of others queued in, but this is good because you can see where we started and ended up.

I love the simplicity of the background and the bagel bullet points. There are a lot of different elements to the entire email that are great. It's interactive and engaging. We break down all the ingredients, not in a dull, back-to-back way, but in something just a lot more visual for customers.

This part, where you can see the difference between something better and something vintage like this, is that direct visual comparison for customers. We noticed that you're dealing with two major camps of customers who respond well to lots of plain text. Versus customers who respond well to lots of imagery, understanding more in-depth what the brand is about, what the product is about, and how it looks compared to other things.

The comparison elements we add to many of our clients' emails are where people engage the most. It makes sense. We always want to see why we should buy this versus what we've always bought. So it's helpful for the consumer.

Vira: It's very informational, and that's what I like about it. Brands neglect that first email; they treat it as a thank you for subscribing. The welcome email is your chance to tell more about your brand and values to get your customer hooked. Most conversion happens in those first few emails of the welcome flow.

Alissa: I love the GIF the way like the bagel rolls in, kind of like, hi, I'm here. And then underneath, it's just like considered the grain changed, and you're like, whoa. This bagel has made a fun statement, too; I love when GIFs can accompany the copy.

Vira: The copy is just as important as the design. They did a great job of staying on point with the brand's voice and visual representation of the brand too.

This one makes me hungry.

Alissa: I know. So that's the other thing we focused on with the client: they said we need these emails to look good enough to eat.

So this, you guys can see, is like the evolution of where we went with the design, and the emails overall are not necessarily darker, but there's the mystery behind what's going on with the black fused in the red. It makes it edgier. More mysterious. There's a vibe to it where it's like, I have to buy this bagel to be part of the cool kids club who eat these bagels too.

There's one picture that I always think of where it's the bagel with butter and then sliced bananas with honey drizzled all over it. And you look at it, and you're like, this is amazing, as you look at the email. There's the edginess and the innovation side of things where eating these bagels puts you in that camp. But then, like, they're delicious too.

So we don't want to take away from that. Just hyper-focusing on it like it's healthy. When people always see green, you're like, okay. But, when you see green with delicious, you're like, we found the sweet spot.

Matt: It creates some bagel FOMO and makes something like a healthier option still really appealing. It seems a lot cooler than perhaps what it is. It's just some bagels. You do an outstanding job of creating that sense of wanting to be in on this product, and everything is just super clean with the footer and all the text and imagery. So very nice work on this.

Alissa: Luis has done this interesting thing of like the arrow, which when I first saw it, I was like, I don't get it. But as you're scrolling through the email, like it makes sense, and I don't know why it is that it makes sense. Still, it makes you focus on whatever the arrow is pointing at, which is like important information because this email ultimately lets people know what a subscription's perks are. We're also offering a subscription discount to sign up.

This campaign led to National Bagel Day, which was on January 15th. I don't know why I remember these random dates, but here we are. So it's cool because, like the arrow, I was like, no, I'm not sure. And then when I scrolled through and eventually received it in my inbox, I was like, oh like, this arrow is such a small detail but makes all the difference.

I've seen it without it, and you just get lost. You're like subscriber perks, and there are four bagels. Like, where am I going?

Vira: Especially in the mobile version when all you can see is the bagel, and you're like, okay, I guess it's the end of the email, but the arrow thing looks very nice visually too.

It has that white color. It puts everything together, links everything together, and the black, the white, the red, and like a little bit of white. Yeah, it's beautiful. It's very high-end. That's pretty much like the message we are trying to deliver with this brand.

Matt: How long does it usually take to make an email like this?

Alissa: it's anywhere between three to four weeks is what our usual timeline is from, like creating the strategy of the campaign and then pushing through our entire team. But if our team only worked on one client, it would probably take us three days because, for the designers, it takes them two or three hours to create a campaign from scratch, like doing something beautiful like this.

We are working on condensing timelines at the moment within our agency. But this client, however, we do stuff last minute for them because they're such a fresh new company, and everything is moving so quickly. They're like putting all these things in place because they want to maximize all the attention they're getting right now, which is understandable.

So many of their emails, like, we have one email we're starting, like I just pushed to copy today, that needs to go out next Thursday. And it's doable. I think our team gets a little stressed out with me sometimes, but we do make exceptions for certain companies that are new, fresh, and moving along.

It's not something we like to do as a long-term habit, but it is doable. And with many of these campaigns, for BetterBrand specifically, we turn around much quicker than our normal timeline. So it's awe-inspiring. I wish I could take any credit for it.

I literally can't take any credit for it whatsoever. I come up with, like, we should do a campaign for subscribers, and then I send it to our copywriter, and he comes up with this fantastic idea, and then it gets sent to Luis and design, and I'm like, how did you guys do this? Out of like, I wrote three words, and you guys, like, got it.

It's amazing. And in a short time as well.

Vira: Much of that time also goes into testing the emails. Like every person working on the email, we try to double or triple-check everything. We run it through Email on Acid. I'm unsure if we're still using it, but we're checking the flow and the campaign, like every email we're sending, and we're double-checking all the links.

We send the preview, then check it from devices, tablets, phones, and designs. It's like it's super important to do that all because there's always a little thing that makes all the difference.

Matt: We're going to look at two more examples. The first one is a social media push email. These are becoming more popular, and we've even seen dedicated SMS-based emails. So why would someone want to send an email like this?

Alissa: As much as it makes us upset to think like email isn't always for everyone. So it's cool for us to have the opportunity to push customers or potential customers to different marketing avenues or channels so they can see everything you're doing and see how kind of engaged you are.

But also if, for whatever reason, they opt out of email. Or they unfollow you on Instagram; there are still two or three other channels on which they're still connected. So you're still communicating with them no matter what. And ultimately, it's like you want to be top of mind no matter what for these customers.

So even if I'm not buying a Better Bagel every single day, if I see them every single day on my Instagram feed, it's going to, they're going to, like, make an impression in my mind. And even when I'm not purposefully thinking about them, they pop up no matter what. So now, when I see a bagel, I automatically think of better brand A because I work with them and see them so frequently on different marketing channels.

They're always top of mind to the point where now I'm like talking to my husband, and I'm like; We need to buy a better bagel. We need to. We need to; we need to. And he's like, why? Why? I'm like, no, we need to, like, I don't have an explanation for it; it's just my subconscious is telling me because I've had so many touch points with the brand.

So that helps. The more touch points, the better. Vera and I have discussed this a lot on our podcast, where it takes up to 17 touch points, and that's for, like, lower-value items for someone finally to buy. And the touch point isn't just going to happen in email. It's going to happen in email. It will happen on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, word of mouth, and direct mail. Any way you can connect with the consumers you want.

So their Instagram following is increasing drastically, and they're so active on their stories too. Social media gives these brands a little chance to be witty, funny, sly, and fun. Whereas, like with email, there's more of like a professional appearance that you want to show. So you can still be funny, but you're trying to be more like this is who we are. And then on Instagram, you can be like, yo, what up, girl? You know, like slide into your DMs thing. So it's fun because then people can see the different personalities of your brand.

Vira: It also gives you a sense of community, which you can get through email. But on Instagram, you can engage with other bagel fans and like the brand directly. And it puts that human face onto the brand and community, which is very important. Someone from the Unspam conference compared the brands with different marketing platforms.

They said email marketing is like the good guy your mom wants you to marry.

Alissa: It was Robbie Fitzwater. He was a speaker at the conference. So he was saying that email marketing is like that guy your parents wanted you to date in high school, but you didn't want to because he wasn't like the sexy cool guy with the leather jacket and the motorcycle.

Email marketing was like the nerdy guy who's going places but keeps to himself and doesn't go out much on Saturday nights. Like good, like a solid guy. And you're just like, no. And then when you grow up, you realize, like, dang, I should have dated that guy.

Vira: Social media, is that like other Yeah, the other guy. Like the bad boy guy. 

Alissa: That's funny.

Matt: This is the last email we're going to look at. It's an exit intent offer. I've gotten emails like this before. They're trying to get me to return to their website and buy something.

Alissa: Sort of. So the exit intent offer works for us because we only let that popup appear on a product page. So it's only when someone has shown legitimate intent in purchasing because they're on a product page and not just browsing the site. So if you're on a particular product page and then move your mouse or cursor off the browser with the intent to exit, a popup appears, and the popup for a better brand is the offer of buying three, getting one free.

When someone opts in, they'll get this email. This is the flow's first email; we like a stacked incentive. So the first two emails will be this email, and the second is a reminder of this offer because our offers usually only last 48 hours.

And then, we'll include some welcome emails or more information about the brand to push people over the edge. And then the subsequent two emails will be like a better incentive, whether it's free shipping or a different offer altogether. And that will be the offer. And then a reminder, too; that's how we frame our exit intent.

So this acts like a welcome flow because people didn't opt in through the homepage popup. It's still a critical time to put your best foot forward and show customers what your brand looks like.

Matt: I like how you called out the code here. That's smart. It looks like the same pill-style CTA as the button below. This matches and brings your eye down.

I also like that you left-aligned the text rather than centering it. This is a good choice because the text is a little bit longer. Centering the text would have made it harder to read.

Overall, this is a great example of how to design an exit intent offer email. It's clear, concise, and persuasive. I'm a big fan of this type of email. How important are emails like this? Do most brands need some exit intent offer or abandoned cart email to capture those sales?

Alissa: The exit intent flow tends to be one of the top three performing flows for all our clients, revenue-wise. Engagement as well, but revenue, and that's what clients care about, is like, where's the money?

Exit intent is one of those places just because usually it's an offer that's given again to someone who intends to purchase. They're right there. And then you're giving them that offer as a last resort, like, please, stay on the site, make a purchase, here you go.

And again, it makes the consumer work a bit harder for the discount because they've had to get to the product page. Not that it takes that long like it's what, three seconds to go from a homepage to a product page. But they've had to do a little more research and look through the site to look through product, product description, details, et cetera.

This is a crucial aspect of any email marketing strategy from a holistic point of view. Out of every single flow, the most important is a welcome flow because you want to ensure customers know what they're opting into. And then, for me, the next one would be an abandoned cart, cart flow, and then a post-purchase flow.

Vira: It's not like, for every brand, some brands don't do discounts at all, for example, but you can still give some incentive to your customers.

I know that some brands are doing exclusive desktop wallpapers that you can download., I think it's Glossier who did it. Or like a PDF, or I know that some brands are doing the invitation to an exclusive Facebook group that is only available to like specific customers or something like that. So you want to give them some incentives, but it all comes down to your overall marketing strategy.

Alissa: Yeah, and it doesn't always have to be an offer, as Vera said. It can give you an inside scoop into the brand so you know more. And like a lot of like, for example, this is more service-based, but like a lot of personal trainers, if they have a website, they'll have an exit intent offer where it's not an offer, but it's exit intent content provided.

So, before you leave, make sure you get your free three-day guide on how to lose 10 pounds. And then that's a way for them to stay engaged, get your email, and give you some value in return. The exit intent is an additional way to sort like transactionally switch value. Like I will give, if you give me your email so I can contact you, I will give you this thing is what it's all about. And the exit intent provides another option for that too.

Matt: Thank you so much for breaking down these emails. How can people work with you? Are you still accepting any new clients?

Alissa: Totally. Check us out at flowium.com. And then, if you go to About Us, you can hop in there and schedule a call with our team. The way that we function is if we don't think we'd be a good fit for you, we won't work with you as much as we like making money. We must be the right fit.

So you'll hop on a call with someone from our sales team. They'll walk through what you're doing as a brand, what your goals are, and if it's something that we viably think that we can add value to what you're doing, then we can go from there. But if not, then we'll let you know right off the bat, like, Hey, this is probably not a good fit. Here are some other agencies that we would recommend.

Because ultimately, for us, email marketing is super important, as most of you know. But it's something that if we can't do, we'll offer someone else to do it for you because everyone should have really solid email marketing in place.

Matt: Great. Well, thank you so much, Alissa and Vira. Have a fantastic rest of your day. It's been an absolute joy to talk to you about these emails.

Alissa: Thanks, Matt. Thanks for having us on.

Their emails are chef's kiss.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Think outside of the box with social media. Show people you’re on social media by pulling in some posts from your company page or posts that people tag you in.

2. Make text readable on mobile if it’s going to be an image-only template. Provide accurate, clear alt text as well.

3. On live text vs. images: If you want to build a new email or test some new copy, you might have to work with a designer, a developer, and the whole team to get a new email out the door. Jumping into the template or the code block and changing the live text might be a quicker option.

*BONUS*: With fitness emails, show products in motion. Think about how people are going to use the product, what activities they’ll be doing, and frame the email around those ideas.

Matthew Smith: Hey, it\'s Friday. What\'s up, Matt? 

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, Matthew Smith? Welcome back to another episode of Feedback Friday.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/-WIPw_pVevE

Matthew Smith: Feedback Friday where we review best in class emails and talk about what makes them so dang good. Hey dude, we\'re looking at some tight little Brooks Running emails. I started collecting these not too long ago.

These things are fun. Here\'s the thing. I\'m going to get some stuff out of the way so that I can just like jam on the exciting stuff. They\'re all images. And man that bums me out big time for all the reasons I\'ve always said, all image means that there\'s a lot less, you can test. It\'s not accessible for people who have vision problems or are otherwise impaired.

It\'s a problem for people loading emails in places with low internet. Those things aside they are using fonts in their desktop that are big enough, that it translates to mobile well and very easily. The style and the simplicity and the focus of these emails are killing it. And I\'m just super happy to go through this.

So the first thing, like what a fun GIF, like somebody took some time to make something sweet and special, just cute. Nailed it. Talking about dads and all these running dads, which is pretty tight. This is a great way to use social media. Don\'t just tell me that you are on Instagram, show me that you\'re on Instagram.

This is a great, great example of that. And these are those people. I\'m sure that they got permission to use their photos and all that kind of stuff, but it\'s super tight. It\'s cool. Then I can jump into gear. So it\'s just a fun way to celebrate quickly. Hey, it\'s Father\'s Day let\'s do this and Hey, let\'s jump in and they\'re talking about some sweet stuff and dad-approved proof gear.

This is an interesting one in the sense that a lot of people have shitty dads, or they don\'t have dads at all or whatever. I think they\'re just jumping in pretty quick. They\'re talking about it easy and then they\'re peacing out. I think they\'ve done a nice job. They\'re not saying things since we all have dads, they\'re not making any assumptions. So those are some things you gotta be careful of. 

Matt Helbig: It\'s not a Father\'s Day sale or anything. It\'s just like, here\'s some dads. This is a surprising one to me. I wasn\'t the biggest fan right upfront when you\'re scrolling through this. Looking at it again, like there\'s a lot of little tidbits in this email.

If you scroll up even like the outline around that image sort of being that hand-drawn is like interesting. wouldn\'t even think of something like that to do something like that. I would just probably crop it in a plain square. I think that adds a lot of personality and uniqueness to this email. 

Then scrolling down to that massive mobile nav feels pretty good. I think it solves a problem for them and showing all those different links. Those do sometimes get clicks and if people are expecting to see the navigation maybe they\'re clicking on them more often. Then that CTA copy, I think is really fun. in general, this one has a lot of little pieces that add up to a pretty good looking email. 

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I agree. I\'m always curious about navigation within an email. I haven\'t done any work recently for an e-commerce brand. That was using something like this. From just a user experience, point of view, it\'s super handy.

The ability to feel like I can jump one or two clicks in right away. Without having to land on the page, then look in navigate, but get in. And then this idea of being able to find a shoe finder, which feels like probably a tool to help me get the right shoe. have the hardest time finding a good bra. So I\'m excited about jumping in with that. 

Knowing that I\'ve got a 90-day free return, like these kinds of things are what sells people on, like feeling served by the brand. So let\'s jump into some others see what they\'re doing over here. 

Once again, they have a cool GIF. They\'re shown shoes fast, right? Like I want to run fast. They\'re like, not like, moving in this slow GIF through. I like that. That feels good. These shoes look good. The type is nice and big and clear and simple. Notice they have a heading here. They have sub-copy divided by this little divider and some CTAs.

They do the same thing again, but on a white background, they keep it super duper consistent. They switch it up a little bit here. To get price divider, heading some heading shoe CTA. It\'s still the same sort of components, right? In the design system thinking, you call it atoms. It\'s these little blocks and it just works.

It\'s so clean and simple. That\'s why I like this kind of stuff. I would love to see hover states on some of these buttons. But again, you can\'t because it\'s just a big image. There are groups out there that could code this up pretty quickly. Once you have it coded up, then you\'re able to build things very fast.

So that\'s the other reason not to use images is if you want to build a new email or if you want to test some new copy. You\'ve got to go work with a designer and then a developer and the whole team to get a new email out the door versus like jumping into the template or the code block and adding some text or changing a CTA, that kind of thing.

So again, would love to see live text. Here\'s some interesting stuff. On that promo that they had going for dad. Just another way of like drawing people in. I think that\'s pretty interesting. And then again, this big nav, 

Matt Helbig: Even with it being all images, I feel like the text is very readable. So even if you\'re going to lock in that text, at least make it readable on mobile and desktop. I think they do solve that issue of it being large enough on mobile that I don\'t have to squint or zoom in or anything like that. It feels like they\'re designing mobile-first and sort of scaling it on desktop.

Matthew Smith: That is true. When you do an image like this, just make sure that you\'re providing accurate, very clear alt text for it to remain accessible to people who have visibility issues. Keeping in mind that, it wasn\'t long ago that on the web that moved to now an issue where you can have a lawsuit and it won\'t be long before that\'s something to expect an email as well. This isn\'t just to be nice to people or ethical to people. This is something that is about business-level decisions. 

So jumping over and continuing to look here\'s another set, but this time, just a little bit different sort of way of moving through it. Keep things fresh, keep things interesting.

But look, they\'re still using that hand-drawn sort of feel to continue with the brand. I think that\'s a rad way of thinking. So they\'re enhancing these photos with this hand, drawn quality, and then they\'re getting people into their shoe finder.

This image feels like it\'s not on brand, but other than that, I feel like they\'ve nailed some nice ways of looking at things here.I probably would have some rounded corners on these photos or something like that. I think that almost feels like it\'s a little bit more in brand. But. I liked it. They switched it up. Any thoughts? 

Matt Helbig: I liked the themes of these emails. I think they are finding interesting themes around these different sends. At the end of the day, they\'re just selling you the same probably handful of shoes over and over again. I think they\'re doing a smart job on trying to bring in some new ideas and framing these products around things that you want to do or people in your life. 

Matthew Smith: These features are pretty interesting here, too. They talk about, I want my whole body to be supported. I want to land softly while also showing you these sexy shoes. It\'s pretty smart. 

Matt Helbig: I think that goes back down to what job is this email doing. In this case, it\'s telling you like, okay, I don\'t want to shoes, I want my whole body to be supported. 

Matthew Smith: Yeah, that\'s right. Getting people into nature runs again, handmade notice the handmade stuff. It looks like they got outside gear of the year. Good job. This is a really interesting way to continue to push the brand. Now it\'s a little different, I think they\'re exploring some stuff with handmade here that is a little bit new.

Using that for buttons. But I think that it\'s really clear that these are buttons. I\'m excited to be able to look at these emails and see some new things. That\'s one of the things I expect, the email I get, I expect it to be unique. I expect it to be different every time.

That\'s been pretty neat to like, see what are they showing now. Notice that they\'re using the consistent type sets on each one. So they switched to handmade. The handmade feels like it belongs. It\'s a big kind of marker type of font, but it feels like it consistently belongs. So that\'s impressive.

Then this last one, this is a little bit more like get er done. Nice, big photo of some folks running together. Just a real clear heading. Subheading. CTA. And then they break this down into, it\'s summer. Here\'s how to stay cool. They\'re giving me a little education and they continue to promote this shoe finder.

So I think these are just some nice ways of creating themes for emails. I like the way you put that, that lead people through different ways of communicating with their customers and providing value. They\'re trying to move people toward buying products, but also trying to have fun. Trying to create a brand.

You start to get the feeling of I\'m a Brooks kind of runner. I\'m a Brooks kind of user. I think that\'s the quality of the brand. You\'re trying to create a distinction so that people begin to choose you. Last week we did this episode Aero. I think this is where Aero was kind of dropping the ball a little bit. They hadn\'t yet created enough distinction to say, yeah, I\'m an Aero type of flyer.

Brooks is doing that well in their illustrations. In these big emails. In this clarity, in their photography. I think it\'s doing a good job. Cool. Cool. Cool. Hey, email geeks, who should we talk to? Who should we interview next?

Let us know. We love having you here. Thanks for being here and have a wonderful weekend.

Matt Helbig: Bye.

Matthew Smith: Bye.

Brooks Running, a division of Brooks Sports, builds running gear and apparel that celebrates the body in motion.

Calm, named the #1 app for sleep and meditation, produces guided meditations and supports people in more than 190 countries.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Emulate the feeling you want people to experience when they open your email. Interrupt their inbox. Stop the scroll and make them pause with personalized messaging. Being a human > business goals.

2. Keep an eye on your text hierarchy. The ideal layout for multiple paragraphs of text includes: a scannable headline, easy-to-read body copy, clear CTA. Guide people through the experience with repetition and variation, rearranging content as needed.

3. Know your audience. If your company has an app, what do most people do in the app? What is most important to those people? If you place the most important part of the message at the bottom of the email (which relates to people’s behavior in the app) and you want people to scroll, test this to see how the design performs.

BONUS: If you have a small email team, build constraints around what you know you can consistently produce to maintain quality.

Matthew Smith: Hey, it\'s Friday. What\'s up everybody email geeks. It\'s another episode of Feedback Friday, and I am here with Sue Cho, head of lifecycle marketing at Calm. And also former EDM musician that I just found out. So freaking rad. And I\'m really glad to have you here. Thanks for being here. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/LyGGsAc27BQ

Sue Cho: Thanks for having me, Matthew.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, this is awesome, we\'re going to have a great episode today. I\'m a big, big fan of Calm. Not only the emotion and the state of being, but also the app and the product. And we\'re going to walk through some emails here today. And I\'m super excited about it. So one of the things Sue I\'d love to connect with is I\'m gonna walk through sort of my feelings about some of the email, but I would love for you to tell a story around it, like help us understand how you landed here and some of what you\'re learning.

Does that sound like a good way to move through this? 

Sue Cho: Absolutely 

Matthew Smith: Sweet. All right. So one of the things that I appreciated about this, this typography up top is not the typical typography for Calm. You broke some of like the typical stuff here, but feels in the family.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/take-comfort-were-here-for-you/

This is a thing that a lot of brands don\'t know how to do. Either they will try everything freaking thing under the moon and it\'s gross and it\'s just doesn\'t make sense cause it\'s completely not cohesive or they will always stick to the exact perfect little set and it feels rigid. Very few brands know how to do what I think of.

I was taught by Ron Lewis, who is the guy who was responsible for the main movement for the MailChimp brand. And he taught me to think about brand as family. And a family, a group, not one thing, but just, does it feel like it\'s in the family? Does it feel like it belongs? 

Is it a sister? Is it a cousin? Is it a stepbrother? Like, what is it? Well, it\'s part of the family and this feels like that. And so I love this because it was like a unique moment in time. And it was this quality of like, how can you help people rest? How can you help people think a little differently as we\'re dealing with some of the COVID stuff?

And it\'s an uncertain time as the email describes, it just felt like, ah, yeah, this font feels like it connects with this easiness this feeling I want. And I love that. So right off the bat, this tone, this feeling, and then just consistently in your emails, lots of things that work well together.

So first this meditate iconography up here, the same tonality, same gradient as the button, just little details. So that\'s something I learned in my art days and in the visual language of something called repetition and variation. So repeat something, be consistent, but repeat it, but vary it. And so you create this, your eye goes from the icon down to the button and nobody\'s sitting there reading this, going, wow, look how it makes my eye move.

You just feel it, right? But I love how relaxed it is. And then also the hierarchy of the text is fantastic. So this quality of being able to move from a scannable headline. Easy to read body copy and then a CTA. The headline, body copy, CTA, and just keep moving down through those. And then these elegant albums for the Calm recordings that I can go and learn more about.

And just leading me through those sort of step-by-step. Lots of breathing room and also the singularity. So this quality of just leading me down one thing at a time. Which if these emails were busy, it would be the exact opposite of what I want to achieve through the application. So everything about the hierarchy and the design to me, feels so in line with the brand ethics that are coming through.

And then to finish it here with these quotes and the sensibility, somebody who looks the way I want to feel, and that just feels fantastic and I love Nayyirah Waheed. I love her poetry and I follow her online and on Instagram and just beautiful stuff.

So I love seeing it repeated here. Then just this little piece of calling out, Hey, we\'re here too and we\'d like you to connect with our community. I just was impressed and then it continues. This is one of the longer emails that Calm has I think, but I think it does a nice job of just staying consistent and giving me a sense of like, okay, sometimes a schedule is helpful when things are kind of crazy and feel a little bit off, give me a schedule, give me something to do. Something that I know I can look forward to and boom we\'re finished 

Beautiful. Look how short, simple this footer is. So many email footers are the worst. It\'s the trash heap of the internet and this isn\'t. I\'m grateful for that. So tell me a little bit about how you came to some of these conclusions and how this is working, what you\'ve learned along the way.

Sue Cho: Well, first of all, thank you, Matthew, for all of the compliments and the deep dive into the work that I and the team do here at Calm. Appreciate that. The first thing I want to start with, I\'ll just go from top to bottom, is the header. And when I first joined Calm, one of the things that I noticed about our emails was that they did not feel so like our app or our social presence.

If you ever scroll through our Instagram, it\'s just @Calm. Most of the most engaging content that we have on there is called a quote square, where it\'s a beautiful image with a quote that relaxes you, that helps you remind you of mindfulness and those get the most shares. Those go viral. 

I wanted to emulate that feeling as soon as someone opened up the email and some will argue and say, well, that takes up a big chunk of the top. Well, that\'s kind of the point. I want to interrupt someone\'s inbox. One of the lines that we use a lot at Calm is stop scrolling That\'s almost what we want people to do when they see this email.

We want a pause of, Oh, what\'s happening here. 

Matthew Smith: That\'s right. The sacred pause. 

Sue Cho: Yes. The sacred pause. Take a breath is just so simple. And when the whole COVID thing happened, Calm took about a week to decide very thoughtfully on what our position would be. We knew people were very stressed and anxious and uncertain and we wanted to be a place of refuge.

We did not want to be a place that reminded people of everything that was going on. So that\'s how the header came to be of \\"Rest here\\". I love how deeply you went into the font because that\'s hand-drawn by our senior visual designer, Jenna.

Matthew Smith: Incredible. She is talented. Hand lettering is difficult and this is wonderfully well done.

Sue Cho: Yeah. This email, I excused a lot of my email best practices for the sake of the message and the marketing materials, because I felt that that was more important. For example, the header, because it was a hand-drawn image, it\'s all image-based. 

One of the things I try to maintain was ensuring that we use as much text and overlay text on top of the background. But for here, we were utilizing this across our blog, across the social posts. It just made sense. So, yeah. Sorry best practices.

Matthew Smith: No, that\'s a really good example of being able to be flexible. I\'m not opening up the ALT text here, but I know that you think of those kinds of things too. So there are ways and times to use images. And there are opportunities when we don\'t need to. So I appreciate that flexibility. That\'s cool. 

Sue Cho: Yep. That meditate icon. We wanted more consistency across our emails and our apps. We had our product designer do a sweep through our emails to make that experience feel more consistent and cohesive. So she took those little elements like that meditate icon, that\'s the same thing that you tap on when you go to meditate in the app. So we wanted to reiterate that into people\'s brains.

This is Feedback Friday, not everything is perfect. And yes, there\'s a lot of copy in this. As a marketer, we don\'t want a lot of copy. Being at Calm for about two years now. I\'ve learned that our audience loves copy. 

Matthew Smith: Interesting. So see, that\'s a great example. There\'s a lot of people want to say, well, what is the best way to do this? How much copy is right. But it\'s consistently, I keep coming back to, you\'ve got to find out what your audience needs and honestly, your audience isn\'t one person. It\'s many people. And a lot of times there\'s opportunities for personalization, which could include primary copy, secondary copy. Like you can have different lengths. Not a lot of people have personalized at that level, but that\'s certainly available.

Sue Cho: Yep. Absolutely. We also had to think about like, what are people wanting from us? They\'re wanting advice. They\'re wanting our words. But this is Feedback Friday. And one feedback I have for our team and myself is that for legibility, we should have justified this text.

Matthew Smith: Interesting. Yeah. The center stuff is tough. Isn\'t it? Like this works here. But the length of this copy here makes that a little bit tough. One thing that is helpful. The fact that the length or the number of characters in this line, you probably already know this, but for our guests, it\'s called the measure typographically.

And because it\'s so short and overall the width of that is short. This pushes the limits of how far you can go with centered text, but one of the reasons it still works and isn\'t like a massive violation is that it\'s so short or tight in width. But that\'s a good point. It\'s always going to be much easier to scan and read when you can left justify.

Sue Cho: Yeah, it\'s just one of the areas that we\'re trying to hyper-focus on just because our copy is getting longer because that\'s what our audience likes and that\'s what our audience wants.

Oh, I also want to talk about the ordering of the content here. If you notice the first piece of content, that big chunk above that is our free resource page. This email went out to our paid members who have full access to our app. And our goal for sending an email is to get people to do a session, but given the coronavirus catastrophe, we put ourselves aside essentially and said, we would rather point people toward this free resource that we put up for them to share and read and be able to utilize without having to pay for their friends and family, which was a debate for me, because I have to think about my goals, but also a human. Being a human trumps, my business goals of, yes, this is more important for our community and our community to spread it to their communities.

So that\'s why we started with that big chunk of copy pointing to the resource page. And then secondary come our sessions. We rarely do that.

Matthew Smith: That makes sense. Interesting. As we get through some of these other emails, let\'s talk about any kind of testing that you\'ve done. What about ordering on these? Do you ever try and reorder these and see how they perform differently? 

Sue Cho: So the ordering comes at the bottom of the email where it\'s the list of daily Calms. It\'s at the very bottom of the email because it\'s the most important part of the email. Now that may sound bass-ackwards, but I put it at the bottom because I know people will scroll.

I know people will scroll because I put the most important thing on there. And then they go through and read it. I know it\'s the most important thing on there because we can look at what session do people complete after opening an email. I have that attribution and the number one thing over and over, no matter what I put into this email, it\'s the daily Calm.

That is our number one product. So that we\'ve experimented placing in different places and realizing, wow, it doesn\'t matter where we place it. People will scroll to read this thing. 

Matthew Smith: That\'s fascinating. Love it. So you\'re creating a specific attribution from the email to the daily Calm to find out how well that performs. 

Sue Cho: Yep. Yep. That list of daily comms never existed. It didn\'t exist in the app. It didn\'t exist anywhere. 

Matthew Smith: I love that. The power of email. 

Sue Cho: Yeah. So it all started with data. When I first started at Calmn, I said, okay, what do most people do in the app? And like I said, most people do the daily Calm. 

Well, our emails should then focus more on the daily Calm instead of focusing on what we think is important, which is whatever new content we\'re pushing out, we think is important. So that\'s something that I tested where I zoned in on the daily Calms and put out this listicle, which takes up a big chunk of the email length.

But when I was experimenting with that, there were some weeks where I missed, because I was a team of one, I\'m still a team of two, but I was a team of one and I missed something and people wrote in and complained, like, where\'s my list of daily Calms. Why did I not get it? 

Matthew Smith: They want that consistency.

Sue Cho: They needed it. They wanted it. And it didn\'t exist anywhere else. So this informs our product team. Like, Hey, maybe we should surface this in the product or something. People are asking for it. So actually that piece of daily Calms is now completely automated, where it pulls in from a different source. So it always changes. No matter when we\'re sending the email.

Matthew Smith: I love it. Have you found, including some of these emoji, like you have here has changed the way that people relate to it at all? 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/learn-to-be-tender-with-your-emotions/

Sue Cho: Oh, Matthew. I wish I could test all the fun, little things. But at the speed and scale that Calm moves in sometimes you just got to get these out the door.

So the reason for those emojis is, again, it\'s a brand marketing moment that took precedence over what I felt would have been more efficient, but this email was for the Valentine\'s day time. We had someone custom write this poem. It\'s cool because we have people screenshotting these and putting it on their Instagram stories like it\'s some cool meme that they\'re sharing. So it\'s cool to see an email being shared like that socially. 

Matthew Smith: Was this on Instagram too? Or was this just for the email?

Sue Cho: It was a global campaign. So for Instagram, we collectively chose a poem that felt, it was kind of hard to choose a Valentine\'s day poem, self poem, that wasn\'t all like sad and weary, but hopeful.

So really that\'s what this email was for. Like we knew it was Valentine\'s day. We don\'t know what people may or may not be feeling. Some people may not care, so we need to make it generic enough.

Matthew Smith: This is another example of utilizing the iconography from the application. That\'s fantastic. I love hearing this.

Sue Cho: Because it\'s for Valentine\'s day. We wanted people to elicit compassion. 

Matthew Smith: Love it. Quick question here, are you choosing a button gradient based on this imagery? 

Sue Cho: We are. 

Matthew Smith: Very cool. I love that. And do you have a set that like you choose from, or you just sort of use your best judgment? Like, how are you choosing that? 

Sue Cho: We have a set. So like I said, we had our product designer, Bree do a sweep through of our emails. And she gave us a swatch of stuff. Like here are the color schemes. Here\'s the button that correlates with the divider that correlates with this. So that\'s what happened.

We\'re actually, I\'m doing away with some of these colors because our new senior visual designer is doing another sweep of our email designs and have called out some colors as illegible. 

Matthew Smith: Sure. Not enough contrast probably.

Sue Cho: Yeah. So some of these colors are going to go away and become more simpler, which honestly like for me and my one developer, we are fine with that.

Matthew Smith: I\'m sure you are. Yeah, that\'s cool. Well, this is just fantastic. A lot of people are asking these days about how do you do empathy within email? I just think this is a fantastic example of don\'t be tone-deaf. Be aware that there are a myriad of different experiences.

That doesn\'t mean that you can\'t celebrate people being together, but it means also, you can celebrate people being on a solo journey or the reality that some people want to stay solo. Another one was like, some people don\'t want to have kids and there\'s so many assumptions out there.

We\'re learning as a culture to be more diverse and inclusive in our language. Not because we\'ve got to align with the word dictocrats, but just because we love people, we want to be caring, those kinds of things. So I love the way this did that. 

The other one that is very poignant for what we\'re going through now, of course, is this Black Lives Matter email.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/we-are-heartbroken-we-are-weary-we-want-change/

So tell me a little bit about how you concluded how Calm would respond to the very real present need for change from companies, from communities, et cetera. How did you all work through this as a team? 

Sue Cho: Yeah, fortunately for us, we had a good leadership team who proactively told us that they were going to make a statement that this was wrong, that they collectively felt that they needed to speak up.

It was an awakening for management and ourselves to all learn and do better. I know that they did a lot of work to craft an official statement, but also give marketing guidance on how we should communicate this to our communities. So I took point from there. This is where my marketing preferences were set aside. My KPIs were set aside and I had to be a human. 

This was a moment for us to be human and also be grateful that we\'re in this position, that we\'re at a company where we can be helping people through this experience. So we wanted to make a bold statement. So like I said, our headers are supposed to be very beautiful imagery.

That\'s supposed to be inspiring and we kind of wanted to make it a big splash and we thought it would be very impactful if we just blacked it out. I also want to say that we have an email that goes out every Sunday. That\'s what our members wait and look for that list of daily Calms. That\'s usually when we talk about other things that are in the app and happening like that.

For this particular Sunday, we didn\'t speak about anything else, but the upcoming daily Calms. We wanted to mute the Sunday email in respect for the Black community\'s blackout period that lasted until the seventh, I believe. But we knew that we would get backlash from our community of not getting their list of daily Calms.

So we did the best that we could and we stripped all the other content and just did the daily Calms. This email followed up the day after the blackout period. If you notice, this kind of interesting, the free resources for all. While this campaign was sending, we had to edit certain things.

Thankfully we send things by time zone and we throttle things because our list is gigantic and Microsoft hates that, but we noticed that this free resource page, if you click on it, one, the link was wrong two it was images all filled with white people. 

Matthew Smith: Oh, wow. Isn\'t that interesting? 

Sue Cho: Yeah. And if you scroll down, we had these articles for the black community. \\"Amplify Black Voices\\" that led to a blog article that pointed to other resources for mindfulness led by Black people, which we unfortunately don\'t have in our app. Even though these are competitors, we wanted to highlight them and not make it about us. So as this campaign was going out, I was like, Oh no, the link is wrong, we need to make a redirect, but also, do we want to point people to this is this the first thing we want to point people to?

So we reordered the content pieces to move the two articles up.

Matthew Smith: Up. Yes. Smart.

Sue Cho: And put our stuff at the bottom, because this campaign wasn\'t about us. It was about the black community and how we want to help them 

Matthew Smith: Good lessons learned. I appreciate the insights into the way that you all had to think through that.

It\'s okay to make mistakes. It\'s okay to learn from things. This is part of the program. Not just our relationship to our fellow humans, but also our relationship to emails. Mistakes happen. We as a culture, there\'s a lot of growing about how to make a good mistake and how to own it and then how to grow from it.

I think that\'s a place of maturity for all of us, but it seems like maybe there\'s some growth there. So this is just great. I was impressed with it. I felt it was super appropriate. It feels both in brand, but more somber.

So one of the things that we\'ve done in some of my design agency work, I work on like voice and tone, but you can also do it with aesthetics, where it\'s a quad graph and you look at what is your response to something when it needs to be somber? What is your response to something? When you\'ve made a mistake? What is your response to something when you want to be fun and upbeat? There can be variation in your language because it\'s not appropriate to have a single voice.

Really Good Emails has a cheeky, kind of silly voice. We can\'t use that right now. We need to tone it down for a minute and just relax and be the compassionate and caring and empathetic people that we are. Then in time when there\'s some movement here, we can bring back some of that humor. As usual, we walk a thin line. Humor, so often, it is about comparing or creating contrast or things like that.

We always need to be careful about creating the wrong kind of contrast. So we\'ve been called out many times. It\'s like, oh shoot. We didn\'t realize that. Thank you for giving us that insight. We\'ll keep doing better. So I appreciate the way you all move through this. You all are killing it. You\'re doing a great job.

One of the things I wanted to call out, a lot of you feel like your teams are tiny and there\'s nothing you can do and Sue is a great example of two people on this massive, like all these needs, are doing incredible work. One of the ways I think they\'re doing it and Sue correct me if I\'m wrong, but you\'ve created an elegantly simple set of things to send out. 

So in other words, I don\'t see wild new stuff coming out of Calm\'s emails all the time. They\'re consistent. They\'re always helpful. The content is changing, but the content framing is staying essentially the same. 

You create kind of a constraint around what you can consistently elegantly produce again and again and again. If anybody feels like their team is too small, then figure out what kind of constraint they need to put on their emails, their output, their scope to maintain quality. Does that line up with the way that you think about this as well?

Sue Cho: Yep absolutely and the Calm organization as a whole believe in running lean. We believe in the power of smart, efficient people. I was a team of one for a good while for my first year. And so what I did was, okay, I need to create all these automations, all these one-offs, I\'m one person. I don\'t have a dedicated design team. We had one designer at that time for the entire Calm organization. 

So I worked with the contractor to design modules for me. Predefined modules that fit our product specs so that I can mix and match on my own. Luckily he\'s a great, talented developer that was able to create clean code for me. 

I\'m not the best developer. I can read and understand a few things, but he commented out sections that said, this is where daily Calm starts. This is where daily Calm ends. This is where the thick border starts. This is where the thick border ends. So I can copy-paste and create brand new emails on my own.

Matthew Smith: I love it. Learning so much. I enjoy these episodes where I get to learn a lot. This is fantastic. Thanks so much, Sue. It\'s been another great Feedback Friday episode, and you\'ve helped make it that. As usual, I feel like I need to end it on a low note of a bad joke. So let\'s see what I can figure out here today.

Do you know why ghosts love elevators? Cause it lifts their spirits. \uD83D\uDC7B

Sue Cho: That\'s a cute one!

Matthew Smith: Yeah. I\'m a dad. It\'s just so gross and bad. It\'s awful. But keep em coming.

All right. Well Sue it\'s been a really good time having you here. I think you\'ve got some awesome stuff going on this weekend. You\'re going and hitting the mountains. You want to tell everybody about 

that? 

Sue Cho: So every weekend I\'ve been training for going up to Mount Whitney, which is the highest peak in the continental US. When things were locked down because of COVID, I had to put on my 40-pound pack and take like a 10-mile walk around the city with my dog. I looked a little crazy there, but I get to go out to the mountains this weekend. 

Matthew Smith: Fantastic. Well report back and let us know how it goes. Have a wonderful weekend and everybody else stay safe out there and keep supporting our Black brothers and sisters who are fighting hard for the equality that they deserve. Alright, love yall. Chow chow.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

Matt Helbig: What’s up, Email Geeks. Welcome back to another episode of Feedback Friday, this week with Kelly Lamano, content master of Really Good Emails, writer of newsletters. How\'s it going, Kelly?

Kelly Lamano: Hey Matt, it’s going pretty great. That was quite the intro. Thank you.

Matt Helbig: Do you have a better title for yourself?

Kelly Lamano: No. I mean, that set the bar right there.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/iK_MNbgr6ls 

Matt Helbig: These are some Disney+ emails. These are Matthew\'s picks, and I thought we could walk through them and talk about what we like.

So, this first one looks like an onboarding email, trying to get you to try this GroupWatch feature. And I really liked this layout. It\'s pretty unique from what we usually see. They\'re using live text here, which is really awesome to see.

Kelly Lamano: Yeah. I really liked that. They use a mix of live text and images. They could have just placed blocks of images for everything, but it\'s kind of unique how they have the CTA right at the top of the email. So it\'s kind of like, Hey, try GroupWatch…if you\'re not ready to try it, you can scroll down and see how it works.

And then they have that consistent CTA at the bottom with Start GroupWatch. So, it\'s the same button at the top and the bottom, keeping it very consistent, but also walking you through the steps of how to use it.

Matt Helbig: It looks like this is almost a mobile-first email in general, keeping everything pretty optimized for mobile, not having too long of a text leading people into that CTA.

I think that they use a nice balance of colors to sort of break up the sections as well. Overall, I’m a fan of this one.

Moving on to the next one, another Mandalorian GroupWatch email.

Kelly Lamano: The Mandalorian was the reason why I tried Disney+. It was my intro to Star Wars, never watched the series until then, but I think it\'s really cool that they highlight that throughout the entire email.

So, it\'s kind of like they\'re pushing Disney+ as a product, but they\'re also pushing The Mandalorian as a show. So, it\'s like double advertisement and it\'s kind of cool how they draw you into the email, even at the top with This is the Way, the motto of the Mandalorian.

It\'s cool how they show you, you can watch the show together. I\'m kind of curious to know the reasoning behind the side-by-side CTAs. That\'s kind of unique. So, the Start Streaming and the GroupWatch. I\'d be interested to know what the results were behind that.

Did they have more people click Start Streaming or did they have more for the GroupWatch? I’m definitely interested in the science behind that.

Matt Helbig: I think we usually see these, what we call ghost buttons that are just an outline perform a little less when they\'re the main CTA, but as a secondary CTA, it works well if you really wanted to have these next together.

I think the Start Streaming being that very clear CTA, that blue color stands out, and then the secondary GroupWatch matches the UI of the product, and it\'s more like a secondary CTA.

I\'m a fan of the gradient on the CTA. I\'m sure this might just be an image and kind of hard to do with actual CSS, but I think this is a good solution to this problem of showing them next to each other, versus stacking them, they might look a little awkward.

I liked this GIF. I think it is just the right amount of time. It\'s a little bit flashy, but it draws your eye in, very optimized for this mobile view. Again, pointing you toward that double CTA with the main CTA watching the trailer and that secondary, adding it to a Watchlist.

It would be cool to see if they had a play button here that might make you want to watch this trailer, a little bit clearer if that\'s the main CTA they want to use.

Kelly Lamano: I am curious about the Follow Us buttons. I noticed that on a lot of their emails toward the footer, they just have Follow Us and then the three buttons there.

Like what you and Matthew have said before, I\'d like to see more of why should we follow them? Continuing the conversation, or interacting with other viewers - why should we follow them? I’d want to see that in the future.

Matt Helbig: These are sort of paired down. There aren\'t a hundred icons and they\'re pretty big, so they\'re pretty clickable on mobile. And then on desktop, it might be fun to add some hover effects on some of these CTAs, an opacity hover effect might be a cool little touch for those desktop users.

Moving on to this next one, it’s more of an upsell email. They want you to buy into this package, upgrading your subscription.

Kelly Lamano: I really like how they opened the email with a bunch of different titles, showcasing that in a visual way and that covers a wide variety of audiences.

So, if you like sports, you might want to watch the Dwyane Wade documentary. If you like comedy or Disney films, you might want to watch Toy Story 4 or The Simpsons. I think it\'s cool how they kind of open that up, so they reach a broad audience.

I like how, again, they use a lot of live text here and highlighting the logos of the companies that are partnering together, and then using that consistent CTA again. It seems like a lot of the time they have that blue button, and they keep it very consistent. So, it\'s teaching the reader what to look for.

Matt Helbig: I also liked the very descriptive CTA copy and not repeating it here as well. I think that it\'s smart rather than a Buy Now. I think this Bundle and Save 25%, and Upgrade Your Subscription early are powerful CTAs.

They are so close together that even if they\'re leading to the same page, updating the copy and targeting toward that section really supports that message.

This next one has a very good use of GIFs. Some WandaVision.

Kelly Lamano: Yeah, that one\'s a really cool GIF. I like how everything is kind of moving in that picture. It definitely catches your eye.

I think that Disney really touches on how they can reach such a wide range of people, showing all the different movies, all the different TV shows, all the different ages that they reach. It\'s good to highlight different options. I think even in the future if they don\'t already do this, it\'d be cool to see some sort of personalization.

So, instead of seeing a bunch of different titles, maybe personalizing it to what\'s already on your Watchlist and then a follow-up to that would be cool to see.

Matt Helbig: I think they really have to compete with some of these other streaming services like Netflix and Hulu who seem to do a lot of personalization when it comes to their emails, HBO Max as well.

They\'ve stood out to me on bringing a more simplistic, very friendly communication about focusing on these titles, having these nice, actionable Watchlist CTAs.

I think they\'re trying to cater to a wide audience with their product and maybe even a younger audience. Hopefully, they can learn a little bit about your streaming preferences and try to personalize this when they can, but they do have a lot of content to serve you, and how they do that in these emails is cool.

This last one really stood out to me. I really liked all the colors working together, leading down into this section with this GIF CTA. This one really caught my eye in the inbox. I think it stands out, and we don\'t really get to see a GIF CTA very often that\'s not totally crazy or annoying.

Kelly Lamano: Yeah. I love that GIF CTA. That definitely drew me in. I don\'t see a lot of that. It\'s really cool to see that moving, and I feel like that pushes the audience to click even more because it’s like, Oh, this is nice.

And it\'s really cool how everything is centered. I think it works well here because they don\'t have a ton of text on each line. They keep it simple, and I think it really works just drawing your eyes all the way down.

Matt Helbig: Cool. Well, nice work Disney+, definitely a brand to follow. I\'m going to have to watch some of these. Thanks for coming on, Kelly. Have a happy Friday.

Kelly Lamano: Thanks, Matt. Happy Friday.

Matt Helbig: See ya.

This week, we\'re diving into some entertainment emails from Disney+. Should you use side-by-side CTA buttons? GIFs in the header? What about a 50-year-old who’s a former Jedi youngling? Email marketing is a complicated profession. Disney+ simplifies how they promote their streaming services by highlighting titles to watch and balancing live text with images.

emfluence is a full-service digital marketing agency and marketing automation platform that specializes in driving website traffic through multiple platforms.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Make your B2B emails stand out. Don\'t just add a header image with lines of text like every other B2B email, and don’t default to a standard text-only email. Break the design mold.

2. Think about what type of content you\'re serving and how you\'re serving it to your audience. Creating an email experience that’s fun, educational and experiential can help you integrate website and email strategy.

3. Know your audience and be yourself. How does your brand want to sound different from other brands in your space? Don\'t always play it safe. Embrace your weirdness.

Matt: What\'s up, Email Geeks? We\'re back with another episode of Feedback Friday. This week we have a fantastic guest from emfluence.

Natalie: Hi.

Matt: Would you like to introduce yourself?

Natalie: Sure. My name is Natalie Jackson, and I am the marketing director for emfluence. We are one part digital marketing agency and one part marketing automation platform. I get to have the fun of playing in both worlds. We talk a lot about email strategy, and we talk a lot about marketing automation software. The other fun topic that I love to talk about is CRM.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/N_i8gh_xuDY

Matt: Well, you sent over this email, and it\'s like an email within an email. It\'s a very meta email. This is an excellent B2B example. I think it kind of breaks the mold a little bit. Could you talk more about what you like about it?

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/remember-adding-this-to-your-cart-smiles-davis

Natalie: So, what I like to do in my capacity as the marketing director is to think about how do you make digital marketing an experience? So it\'s something like when you look at B2C brands, and you\'re like, oh, it\'s so easy for them to make an experiential kind of campaign where people get to play around with something, have fun, or push the envelope. I\'ve been in B2B marketing for the better part of 10 years, and one of the things that you always look at is, how do you make B2B not be too dull. We put this campaign together because we thought it would be fun to attract awareness around integrating your e-commerce solution and your e-commerce strategy with your marketing automation software. 

What we do on our website is that we built a fake t-shirt shop with some of our email pun t-shirts (the site is just emfluence.com/shop). Then, when you put something into your cart, you get a modal that pops up which says, would you like to play along with our pretend abandoned cart campaign? The purpose of this was to be educational but also to be experiential. We wanted it to be like, \\"Hey, I\'m going to sign up for this thing,\\" and when I receive this email, it will walk me through the anatomy of an e-commerce abandoned cart email campaign. It helps people decide what I should put where. Where\'s my pre-header, my header with my header image, and my call to action? That was the idea behind this campaign - how can we be fun, educational, and experiential. 

Matt: I love the little tooltips throughout this email. I think it\'s a cool way to sort of break down an email and show each part. For a B2B email, this stands out. I\'m surprised that all this stuff is live text and works very well. This is an actual email in the inbox, so it\'s just a bonus point. You would have to send it to yourself, right? Through the landing page? 

Natalie: Oh no, so we built an e-commerce shop on our agency website, and you can buy one of these t-shirts from the shop. We make a new shirt every year for our conference anyway, but they\'re usually some geeky email shirt. The most recent one we have is \\"electronic mail is the future,\\" and it has a super, super retro kind of look. People love our shirts, and they\'re always asking - how do I get a shirt from you? Finally, I was like, you know what, you can buy it from me off of my website, and I\'m going to use it to showcase something that we do well, which is integrating website and email strategies.

Matt: Very nice. Well, I\'m a big fan.

Natalie: It was a fun email to put together. It goes through like a couple of iterations, and it gets progressively more meta as you go through.

Matt: Do you think this is a good abandoned cart email in general?

Natalie: Yeah, you know if it were an abandoned cart email, you know I would recommend pulling the actual product that you have left in your cart, but for us, because it was a B2B sample, we thought it would probably be more fun to do something that\'s animated and really speaks to the fact that it isn\'t an abandoned cart email. Also, you know you probably wouldn\'t want to put quite that many calls to action in an actual abandoned cart email, but we wanted to have more fun with it. We were thinking about it in terms of a B2B strategy rather than a true e-commerce strategy. So for me, as a B2B marketer who\'s sent out a lot of B2B emails over time, is trying to think about how do you break out of the two types of email that you see everywhere? There\'s the first type where you sent a single image header with a bunch of lines of text about how fantastic your brand is, which of course, is always one of three points, right. You\'re talking about how good your services are, how much value you bring in, and how supportive you are as the people who buy your things. That\'s fine, but all B2B brands do that, and then inevitably, all the B2B emails you get tend to look the same. You can even spot one right away. There\'s my single image header. It probably has some imagery in it. Here\'s the block of text, and then here\'s my call to action button, which serves a purpose, although it doesn\'t always work, and it\'s just not very exciting. Then there\'s the other one, a text-only email, which is also fine and serves its purpose, but it\'s not super fun.

I guess for me, as a B2B marketer, the biggest challenge is always, how do you do something different than those two things? If that\'s what every B2B brand is doing, how will you stand out in the inbox, just in terms of what kind of content you\'re serving up and how you\'re serving it? 

Matt: Yeah, I agree with that. It might be different at emfluence, but I can see many people saying this will never work for my audience or something along those lines. How do you try to push those boundaries? How do you explain to your boss why something like this might be good? Is it just testing it, or would you say it\'s more the culture of your company? 

Natalie: I guess it’s a combination of both. We\'re kind of lucky that we\'re an agency, so people expect us to do something fun and different. There\'s a level of expectation and creativity. When I look at the kinds of content we put in here, we can make a silly text line in the unsubscribe. If you look at how we\'re talking to our audience about a subscription, we know that we\'re talking to people familiar with email so that we can be a little bit more fun. 

That would be a tough sell at, for example, a massive, fast, product company that talks specifically to accounting professionals, like that, might not resonate with them. I think part of it is knowing your audience, and part of it is just being yourself. This is kind of outside the parameter of email, but it touches email strategy. That is thinking about how your brand wants to sound different from any other brand in your space. I think that\'s the trap because B2B wants to be safe and want to be non-confrontational and doesn\'t want to rock the boat. What that means is that all B2B brands kind of sound the same because nobody\'s trying to rock the boat. So I think part of it is just embracing your weirdness. What\'s the thing that makes you weird? Embrace your weirdness. For us at emfluence, it is easy; we embrace our weirdness every day. I mean, I could see how that would be hard for people to have that conversation, but I do think that it opens up that opportunity to be different, to stand out, and to let your true self shine in a way that your copy is never going to be able to do as an experience can.

Matt: There has to be a balance with B2B between having fun and knowing your audience, and also, I guess serving those people that want the very serious plain text emails as you said. I think this is an excellent way of thinking that email doesn\'t always have to be so serious. If something doesn\'t work out, there\'s probably a chance for you to send another one in the future. I think this is an excellent way to show there are all these sections you have to think about and everything, but they could be fun, or you could use email in a different way that\'s not just sending someone a white paper. There\'s this interactive element, and knowing your audience is part of that too.

Natalie: Yeah, that\'s an excellent point, Matt. We have white papers that outline email templates right, like that is a white paper download that emfluence offers, but this is way more fun than downloading a white paper. You have to think that you have the content and knowledge. I believe in B2B there\'s a certain level of expectation that learning is part of the sales process, but there are many different ways to showcase that knowledge. It doesn\'t have to be a content download. It can be something that\'s more fun.

Matt: Who is emfluence for? Who should be reaching out to you?

Natalie: emfluence does a lot of different digital marketing services: web development, SEO, paid search, paid media, and email strategy is one of our big things too. So, if that sounds like something you\'re looking for, we work with many different types of brands. We are headquartered in Kansas City but definitely can do work wherever.

Then, we have emfluence\'s marketing automation platform, which is excellent for people who maybe have a CRM in place or is also great for people who are looking at personalization. We have a lot of really cool personalization options. This email is actually sent through the emfluence marketing platform. We try to support what Really Good Emails is always recommending: how can you send out personalized, timely, and fun emails that get good results? We also want them to be easy to use, right? We ask, is the platform easy to use? How can we create a good experience for the email marketers out there?

Matt: Great, well, thank you so much for taking the time today. I\'ll have to look through the rest of the examples and check them out. 

Filmsupply is a full-service licensing agency with a premium catalogue of stock video footage from leading filmmakers.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. A looping GIF with a play button is a clear CTA that shows people what they\'re going to get.

2. Find the balance in centering text. Too much centered text can be overwhelming for the audience.

3. Not all divider lines are necessary and add to the total message size (which might get clipped in Gmail).

*BONUS*: Email is web delivered. Email is landing pages delivered. Email is relationships designed. Design accordingly.

Matthew Smith: Yo, yo, yo. It\'s Feedback Friday. What\'s up, everybody? It\'s Matthew Smith. I\'m here on another fine Friday, ready to give you some email action - this time from Filmsupply. What are Feedback Fridays? Well, this is when somebody on the Really Good Emails team has taken you through what makes this particular brand, this specific set of emails really good. That\'s what we\'re here to do. Hope you all are having a fine Friday and surviving a crazy season of life.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/taXnGy2zK5o

So let\'s check out Filmsupply. I\'m going to walk through several different emails. These folks are blowing my mind. I\'m so impressed by what they\'re doing. Let\'s start out just a great example here of using some fantastic graphics. I mean, they\'ve got some really strong design folks in the house, but are creating these beautiful, like what are essentially landing pages?

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/a-culture-immersed-in-fire-and-family

Here\'s something I\'ve been thinking about a lot. Email is web delivered. Email is a landing page delivered. Email is relationship designed. These are the things I keep coming back to. What they\'re doing here is they\'re giving me a deep feeling of what Filmsupply is all about. Like what I can get after and look at all the available stock footage, all the stuff that can be done to be able to understand what\'s happening and also just to get saturated in film and understand it. But look at this, this is just a beautiful looping GIF, but it just feels film quality. And they\'ve just done this incredible job of pulling that together.

Wow. Now what they do as they lead down through from an email perspective is they give me a very clear call to action with this play button. So I want to go and click through and see what that\'s all about, but also I have a very clear call to action with this film. Nothing crazy, nothing too fancy, but just show me, watch the film.

I get this opportunity to go behind the scenes with the director and understand a little more. They pull this small lockup together into a nice, clean, sparse little area. I think they\'ve done an excellent job with that. If you\'re going to play design golf, the only sort of small critique I would have for any of the Filmsupply stuff is not all of these dividers, these rules are necessary. 

What is Matthew talking about with design golf? When you\'re playing golf, which I have never done, but I have played Frisbee golf... it\'s the same thing, right? You try and get the lowest score possible. So with design, try and get the lowest score possible, use as few elements as possible. Every single different element that you use is another point. 

Are all these lines required? I would say at least this bottom one is not necessary. Possibly even like this middle one might not be necessary. So, just some interesting things that you can get away with.

There\'s already a horizontal rule happening here with these lines. Is that divider necessary? I would say no. If I\'m having to critique little things like that, they\'re killing it. So this is great. It\'s just beautiful to see, watch more Filmsupply films, see what they\'re creating, see these different things that are coming through. It\'s just beautiful work.

They\'re a company that is showing off the best of these different videos and films, and they\'re doing it in such a gorgeous way. Being able to give me. Who was the director? What this is about, a little bit more detail, and then watch the film. Could they customize the CTA? Probably. Although with this much information, I think \\"watch the film\\" is just fine as a possibility here.

Let\'s jump over to some other ones and see what they\'re doing—breaking it up differently. Making it work. Now, this is interesting. They\'re left aligning or breaking the grid in something like this. And here\'s the thing, it\'s working. The reason this works is because of these two little lines.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/a-brand-new-series-to-hone-your-skills

If those lines were missing, this would look like a broken email. Like, imagine this is not there. This is not there. It completely loses its horizontal stability and it looks broken. Cause it\'s like, why did you F this “behind the work” thing up? But they make it work because of that line. You can see, also, they make that work, the text over imagery, because this is essentially blurred.

Now, I like how they\'re using an actual blurred photograph here, which leaves some of the image not blurred. So this is not blurred using only Photoshop. It might be using Photoshop or Figma or one of your preferred tools. It is aesthetically gorgeous. It looks great. They then get into this new series, \\"start watching,\\" that same lockup as we saw before.

And then they have these cards that they\'re pulling together that are playing on this “behind the work theme.” That\'s one of the things in their brand, getting people to talk about the films that they\'ve created, watch the episode. Next, watch the episode. Nice cards, locking these up in a really clever way.

Notice that this sort of line is an element. It is a part of the sub-brand of “behind the work.” So, Filmsupply has its brand, and then this is something within the family of that brand that works well. This little line. And they continue to use it, and they\'re able to create these different groupings very quickly.

Once you already have that and just plop in the content, boom, boom, boom, you\'re ready to go, and then follow it up and be the first to catch new episodes. Cool. An opportunity to subscribe. If these things are interesting to me, don\'t just worry about getting them here in this email, but make sure you\'re subscribing.

I\'m assuming that\'s probably leading to maybe some of the work on YouTube. But that\'s pretty cool. It is leading people to follow up. So, that\'s an excellent tactic to draw people in and then show them how they can get more of that information. 

Digging into another version. All right. Now we are, we\'re searching for safety.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/find-footage-fast-in-trying-times

So they\'ve got a little bit different header lockup here. They\'re using centered text in a lot of this. Here\'s why this works. Centered text can be tough, but they\'re doing a couple of things that make it work. One: it\'s not all that long. Two is the text size means that the number of characters in that line, which is called the measure, typographically is not that long.

They only do it in certain parts, and they keep it simple. Reducing the amount of information around the center text helps. Do it here. They do it here, and it just continues to work. 

Be careful with centered text. Too much centered text can be overwhelming. Find that right balance. So, search for safety. 

So, they\'ve been updating their search feature. They want to help people understand. So, if I\'m looking for video around safety, then they\'re wanting to promote that. This is a great way of helping people sort of feel connected to what\'s happening right now and getting people to see the search. And then, further, they\'re being able to look at opportunities for looking at social distancing, which is within the safety category.

Hey, looking for something that you aren\'t finding? We\'re here to help. That\'s a great little component to add to an email like this. As we saw in some of the other stuff I reviewed, here\'s a great way to continue to use that lockup. I think it was over here on the first one, this same lockup, now we\'re using here, but just with two. So, this is a nice variation on that same theme. 

Let\'s keep going. You can see that they continue to use this hero setting, hero area, in some unique ways. Notice that the Filmsupply logo sets the tone for each header, and they keep that pretty consistent. This is a little bit different size than the others, but that\'s what sets the tone for where am I? Who is this? What is this? But then, they just tell these beautiful stories with these wild visuals and get people into it, watch the film, license the footage. So, watch it, or go ahead and grab some of that interesting footage and start licensing it for whatever you want to use it for.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/this-music-video-is-mind-blowing

What a great way, also, to show a variety of the pieces of the footage. You could do a GIF, but this is another really nice way of showing some of the stills within that footage. Interesting. Wow. 

Look at these beautiful photos. Go behind the scenes. Again, watch the film, license the footage. They’re focusing here on \\"Easy\\" by Ayia and giving me a lot of indication about what I can do with it. I can watch it. Or I can license the footage, and then they\'re a little bit digging into a broader category here by saying, “filmmaking at its best.” Sweet. Alright, let\'s go browse all the films. 

One thing that they\'re doing here that I think that a lot of other people can do is they are showing these places where they\'re online. If I want to go discover that, at least they\'re showing me. Now that said, one thing that I would love to see more people do, and there are some good tools out there that do it, is be able to see what exactly on Instagram? Show me some photos. In other words, don\'t tell me you\'re funny. Tell me a joke. There are some cool ways to be able to do that if we wanted to, but obviously, we don\'t want to distract from the main content either. 

So, continuing down the journey with Filmsupply, look at the ways that they show off travel and destinations. These different destinations. Films that cover these destinations.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/travel-without-restriction

Just a really nice category lockup, and giving me these ways to dive into different places, see cities in a different light. Okay, cool. Oh, interesting. Like, night shots, sick. Skylines, sick. So, not just locations, but how to see them. So, overall, this is about location, but then they give me these filters. So it\'s contextual. It makes sense. Even, like, “see more spectacular footage on Filmsupply.” They\'re able to test a lot of variety of how people are digging in, but it\'s consistent. Notice how all of these feel like the same family of emails. 

We can jump into another aesthetic and they do this great feeling. Let’s look at that background image here. Let me see if there are some others. So, they’re doing it here on easy, where this background bleeds into that black. That is so nice. And then here, boom, bleed into the rest of the email. So, they\'re using that main photo, they\'re bleeding it down to a color, and then they choose the color of the background for the rest of the photo.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/refresh-your-project-with-our-summertime-footage

That is so nice. Look how they\'re beginning to lead me into more of this beach time stuff. So this is the theme giving me some access to these different images. This is a clever way of pushing me into these different categories.

You know, one thing to note is I\'m noticing there\'s a little bit of blur on some of these visuals here on the headings, and just with a little bit more work, they could make those headings live text. There\'s no reason why they couldn\'t be. Now that said, they may be just really wanting those headings to work in all email clients, which of course font face does not work in all email clients currently. So, just a little push for live text.

Once again, you can see the family, the way that they treat the brand. Just another little lockup, another way to show off these pieces of content. And then once you have these lockups developed in your email, then you can continue to use them systematically. See how they\'re using visual power here, “capture chaos.”

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/bring-emotion-and-mood-to-your-project

So they\'re showing off these visuals, locking it up in the same kind of grouping, and then being able to apply it to a different image. Now, I\'m assuming that this is just one big image that they\'re developing in Figma or something else like that, but they\'ve done a nice job of showing off, you know, some of this contrast.

Now that said, here\'s an interesting thing. They could have taken this lilac imagery and drawn it down through. Now, why didn\'t they? My guess is that by cutting that off there, they\'re able to tell a better story about visual power and capture the chaos. Notice that in this one, this works. But the teal here with some of these other images, it could be rough.

If you were trying to tell a story like that, teal is dominating, right? It works okay. But here, black really helps these images come forward in a powerful way. Look at all this consistency between these emails. See how they\'re doing the same thing over and over, just with slight variation, and I\'m just super impressed with how they send out this information.

I\'m always wanting to see what\'s next. Every time I get a Filmsupply email, I\'m super happy. If you have any questions about Filmsupply, or about doing things like this, please hit us up. Love to answer those questions. Love to support you in your own email journey. Keep coming back, my friends. I\'m really glad you\'re out there.

Thank you for supporting us. I hope everybody has a great weekend. Talk soon.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

Mike Nelson: Alright. Yeah. Welcome back to Feedback Friday. How am I doing on this intro? It\'s been a long time since I\'ve been here. 

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, Email Geeks? Welcome back to another Feedback Friday, this week with Mike Nelson.

Mike Nelson: Yo, I\'m glad to come back from the dead.

Matt Helbig: It\'s been a minute. Well, it\'s good to have you back. We missed you. 

Mike Nelson: Thanks, man. I\'ve missed you too.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/cXBleJZ_xPQ

Matt Helbig: We have some Fitbit emails to look at today that you picked. So I thought this episode could be about using data for personalization. I know Fitbit is a cool brand to look at when it comes to stuff like that. What are your thoughts on these first couple of emails?

Mike Nelson: I used to own a Fitbit a long time ago. Then I lost it in a river, kayaking.

What I thought grabbed my attention on this one was the very top it\'s like, Hey, 2020, what a year it was. Who can say that with me? 2020 was crazy. But I do like that.

They say like, here are some things that we\'ve accomplished over the year. This is more of a roll-up using all the data from all their customers, and it\'s a typical end-of-year review. You\'ll see this somewhere around the end of December or January timeframe. If you scroll down, there\'s just a lot of stats about certain things.

You go through the dates, numbers. I mean, 9 trillion is a pretty big number, 22 billion’s a pretty big number. It makes me think, okay, what do these numbers represent? So it actually makes you read the right column. And then you get into a different design mode where it goes from green to this nice orange coral, orange color, and peachy background. Is that what the colors you would say those are? 

Matt Helbig: Something like that, that sounds good. 

Mike Nelson: Yeah. Hierarchy is really good. You’ve got your typical H1 paragraph leading to supporting in that section. Scrolling down a little bit more, you keep your columns and then they go back to a 2:1 column. I love just the back and forth.

Then it looks like from a mobile perspective too, there\'s just so many good design elements in this email and how it gets broken up, but still kind of keeps you scrolling through for just different color elements to keep things separated, but engaged. Different icons. Different buttons.

The only thing that when I was clicking through these, a lot of these areas are filled out with pill buttons, right there on the screen. 8:03 AM is almost like a ghost pill button. And when I first got to it, there\'s spots at the very top or at least looking like a button. I tried clicking into them and nothing happened from a visual perspective. It looks cool. But from a UX perspective, I was thinking that these are actually things you can click on.

This is just a ton of stuff. Maybe if I was to do it again and to give some critique I already think this is a really good email. So nothing really on my side to make it worse. It\'s just long.

Matt Helbig: I was going to say, when does it end? Are we going to get to the end?

Mike Nelson: Eventually, when you die. It\'ll be 2021 when you\'ll get to the end. 

I mean, they could have chopped this up probably into two different emails. One was more related to your fitness goals or people in your area or things like that. Maybe different kinds of products and how it related to end of the year, like top recipe posts, all that kind of stuff.

I mean, that\'s more along the lines of how the company did, but it\'s not really tracking your fitness. So there are things there that I would have changed, but from a design perspective, I think it\'s one of the better ones I\'ve seen in a long time.

Matt Helbig: I think they do a really good job of pulling in a lot of data about you and not making it feel too creepy.

I\'m sure they have so much information about you that I think they have to pick and choose exactly what they want to show in their recaps. Overall, I think this one was really a smart, great use of live text, great use of GIFs, just great use of data personalization, especially in a year-end email. And I believe these are communities stats. 

Mike Nelson: Yep. 

Matt Helbig: It is cool for them to bring in metrics about you as well. 

Mike Nelson: Yeah. These are all community, cause I don\'t have a Fitbit anymore. So this is all community. My guess is that they probably have something they sent out if you\'d been using Fitbit for a while to show how you had done in these areas.

But since they don\'t have the data on me, they went to the general population, which makes me think, Oh, that\'s cool. There\'s enough people here that if I had one, I could compare myself to how well people are sleeping or whatever. One of the things I\'ve got is my new Apple Watch. I can\'t track sleep with it plugged in at night. One of those things is kind of calling out some features that competitors don\'t track that well.

Matt Helbig: It was interesting that this main CTA is Share on Facebook. Usually, we don\'t see too many people pushing the social shares, but I think when the information is so personalized or data-heavy, people are more willing to share that with their social media.

I think that\'s maybe a callout - If you\'re going to ask for the social shares, make it interesting enough to share with your community rather than just asking someone to share a newsletter. 

Mike Nelson: When I look at that, I don\'t know if I would have shared just how the community was doing. But if those were my own stats, similar to my Spotify list, like what I\'ve listened to the most during the year, I think that’s something that would be compelling for me to share. 

So again, if I’d been using my Fitbit and they had been tracking those numbers, and they probably have a way to using dynamic content here that says, Oh, pull in Mike\'s data that it would say the most active day was June 3rd for me, and I took a hundred steps, and stuff like that, then I could share that data on Facebook. 

So generally I like where this went, but I don\'t think from a total community perspective, the intent was probably high enough to get that CTA button clicked on. But the rest of it\'s really just brand-building to give me a sense of what Fitbit is good for and to remind me why I use it or should use it. 

Matt Helbig: Yeah, a very good year-end email. Looking at 2019, this is a similar one that they did for the previous year.

And are you a fan of this one a bit more than the other one? Or are you about the same?

Mike Nelson: I\'m a little less. I mean, there\'s some elements here that I think are cool. It\'s already starting to show its date. You can already tell that it\'s a little bit older design with some hard corners. They\'ve elevated their brand a little bit more since this came out. I do like that average sleep score.

I think that\'s a bigger kind of tie-up than the one that they had in the previous one. But if you go to the top, I feel like this area is not as strong. It\'s the one we just read mostly because the text is pretty small to understand what that is. And so I think I liked the other layout a little bit, just slightly, a little bit better.

Matt Helbig: I do like this party GIF, this confetti GIF. That\'s a cool touch. And I noticed too, they asked for those social shares, but you know, this previous year they had just done Facebook. I think this one is pretty nice too, to pull in a lot of those metrics, again, using stuff like live text to really make it look good on both desktop and mobile. 

I tend to agree with you that the other email, even if it was a really long scroll, it had some cool features in it to bring you back into the product. I know they kind of have that section here, but the other one visually was more impressive.

Mike Nelson: Yeah. How do you feel about all those colors to the very top as well, when you go through everything?

Matt Helbig: I\'m going to guess there’s some match-up to the colors in the app talking about these different sorts of metrics. I think aesthetically, this looks pretty good, but I do agree that maybe the text is a little small and it could be a little bit busy versus the 2020 email where they had spaced it out a little bit more and gave these sort of metrics a little bit more weight.

Mike Nelson: Yeah. I think when I look at it, I just think about all the color changes and I\'m like, it makes me just read every single one of them a little bit more, but not in a good way. I\'m almost like, why is this one different? That\'s one thing that I think I would change.

But other than that, it\'s still a great one. Again, your call to action is to get more people involved in having another great year. Is that Cheers to the Year all live text above that GIF too? 

Matt Helbig: Ooh. Yeah.

Mike Nelson: So that\'s a nice touch. I like that.

Matt Helbig: So for this birthday one, they\'re also using a lot of data, reminding you how old you are and how Fitbit users at your age are doing. Is this a little too creepy to you? Or do you think this is a good use of data in something like this for your birthday? 

Mike Nelson: No, I like it. It reminds me of my goals. You usually set goals at the beginning of the year and around your birthday.

So if your birthday is at the beginning of year, I feel bad for those people who are only getting a few days before they have to reset their goal because their birthday. Mine falls near the end of the year, but not too close to January. And so it allows me to look back and think, okay, what have I accomplished this year so far compared to the last year?

What I would have loved is the comparison to what I was at last birthday. Did that increase or decrease? How much more fit have I gotten? Or made myself...gotten? Is that the right word? I’ve gotten fit.

Matt Helbig: It’s an interesting level of personalization, I think, of using these community stats, especially at your age, with that CTA See Your Stats.

But I do think you have to be a little careful about what kind of metrics are showing. Like you just said, maybe you got a lot less fit over the year and that could be a little depressing. They can try to set up those business roles and think of these different scenarios where trying to spin as much data positively as you can when you have so much data on a person and even like a whole group, a subset of a community.

Mike Nelson: Now that Google owns them as well, they probably have so much data on their hands. Understanding what data to use can probably be overbearing to that team. Do we show steps? Do we show flights climbed? Do we show the number of days in a row that you\'ve been active? Do we show awards that you\'ve earned within the app, ‘cause it\'s gamified a little bit?

All those things are probably inputs to the marketing team to say, is this going to drive a little bit more loyalty or less loyalty? Like you said, if it\'s worse than what they\'re expecting, does that have a negative effect on the usage of the product? Data can be good and it can be bad in the sense, but I do like how it says, how are you comparing to others?

I just would\'ve liked my comparison either here to other people or to last year presented within the email without me actually going to see my stats completely, but maybe that\'s a security thing. Maybe they do that for personal privacy reasons. 

Matt Helbig: And this last one is a little bit of an older one, but I think one of our favorites when it comes to this sort of data report style email pulling in a ton of metrics. This is probably when you were hitting the gym every day, Mike.

Mike Nelson: Yeah, I was. I think that was back in 2016ish, 2017, which makes me feel like we\'re getting old to do all these. But I do like the graphical elements of them pulling in those circles to show that you still want to fill a circle in or fill a ring, get your steps in, complete the day. So that\'s kind of a visually compelling graphic right there.

The icons are a little confusing. Calories burned is a fire, but I had to read that it meant calories burned. And then the lightning bolt for active minutes, I don\'t really associate activeness with lightning. So there\'s probably some iconography that they probably fixed since then.

I do think that from a user data perspective, this is a really strong email ‘cause it’s telling me exactly how I did. 

Matt Helbig: It\'s pretty dense, but I think it is cool how it sort of fits all in one view on mobile. So, if you want to just screenshot the whole email and send it to someone, that\'s kind of another cool way to think about how to share metrics.

Sometimes people do just screenshot an email and send it out over social. So maybe even thinking about if someone might do that for you or email outside of a social share.

Great job, Fitbit. It’s a good showcase of how to use personal data and community data in your emails to really build that one-to-one relationship with your audience and bring people back into your product. 

Mike Nelson: Totally agree. Good job, guys.

Matt Helbig: Good job. Thanks a bunch, Mike, for jumping on. I hope we can do another episode real soon. 

Mike Nelson: Well, thanks. 

Matt Helbig: Okay. Happy Friday. 

Mike Nelson: You too, man. Peace.

What subscriber data should you include when sending personalized fitness emails? Remind your subscribers of their goals, like running 5 miles or drinking 8 glasses of water a day. Show their progress and how they measure up with the community by pulling data like calories burned, hours of sleep, and exercise activity. Personalized emails can inspire your audience to continue working toward their goals.

Matthew Smith: It\'s Friday. What\'s up, Matt Helbig?

Matt Helbig: What\'s up email geeks? What\'s up Matthew Smith? How\'s it going?

https://www.youtube.com/embed/HDcy1lLsXZw

Matthew Smith: Dude. Very well. Very well, my friend. I was pretty into these. You know you told me that these were submitted on the site from Flock, right?

Matt Helbig: Yep. It sounded like they had redesigned their onboarding emails and they were looking for some feedback.

Matthew Smith: It turns out this is Feedback Friday, so that\'s cool.

Matt Helbig: We\'re here.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, it works. So please submit your emails so that we can do this. We try to be clear about when things meet the standard and why and when they don\'t. Why? So we\'ll keep trying to do that. Keep in mind, this is four people running this.

And so we do our best and this is our side thing. We all have full time jobs, so any help you can provide is awesome. Thanks. Cool. So Flock. This just nails so many things for me. So first. As an onboarding series. They\'re doing some really interesting things here I think. One they\'re using from a design perspective.

Let\'s just cover that first. They\'ve got very simple but very attractive brand. The logo is very clear. They\'ve got a very good use of the green there and this mixture between a rounded piece of typography and like a traditional kind of humanist serif. So that\'s what this is. And the rounded from Flock up here, and then they use this green like, so there is a blue.

There is green, there\'s more or less a black and maybe a gray, and then they have their illustrations, but otherwise. Like there\'s so few colors, which makes this email very easy to read and see and scan, which scanability is huge. Now you could argue that maybe that their CTA color here is being used incorrectly by saying pro up here and Flock, I guess Flock is a link.

These are not links. I think in this case it works, and this is pushing the edge, but it works. But the biggest thing is it\'s just really simple to read, really simple to see. And all throughout this email, everything\'s just very scannable. I do think this little pro thing is fantastic. I don\'t know why it\'s there, but I\'m assuming that in part of the onboarding that would be clearer.

I think that\'s a neat little tip. It\'s very clear the possibility of what I need to do to get the most out of my 15 day trial. And so I can do that. And then I get to understand these most used pro features and dial in and figure out what that\'s about and start going.

And then I get to see here right away how many days I have in my pro trial. I think that\'s a pretty neat way of helping me understand. Like the the volume, like yes, I understand 15 days, but then what\'s really cool, we\'re going to switch over here for a minute. When I\'m on day seven, you can see this is getting smaller and it\'s getting yellow, which is serious business here, so that feels pretty cool. What do you think?

Matt Helbig: So I think they really hit a lot of the good points of getting out of the way and inviting your colleagues is definitely the main CTA that they want you to do next. I\'m sure they have some data around once your colleagues are invited, it\'s more likely that you\'re going to use the rest of this pro trial.

Matthew Smith: Yea that\'s right.

Matt Helbig: I think these little check boxes, I\'m not sure if that\'s maybe the best icon to use, but I think it still sort of makes sense to me, just kind of going down this list of what you can do with your pro trial.

Matthew Smith: What would you use instead?

Matt Helbig: I don\'t know. I guess like maybe if there were icons specific to each of these things, so maybe like \\"Search away\\" could be like a magnifying glass or something. I don\'t know. But I think the check boxes match to their brand and you know, using those colors, I think it makes a lot of sense. And I like how it\'s laid out.

Matthew Smith: No, that\'s a good call. That would improve scanability to do that. Sometimes icons can be funny that way. Like what would you do for \\"Take control\\"?

Matt Helbig: Yeah, true.

Matthew Smith: That\'s a hard one. But I think just having them be unique helps call them out as separate.

Matt Helbig: Yeah. I think I like that bottom CTA too. Repeating the main call to action and then I also liked that 15 days remaining at the bottom as like a an ending piece.

It\'s not like the main focus of the email. Just kind of reminding you how many days you have left. What would you change? I think this one overall hits all the spots pretty good for me.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/now-that-youve-gone-pro/

Matthew Smith: I can\'t really think of much. I did notice that, at least on my screen, the Flock logo is slightly blurry. Less so over here, but that\'s, you know, like if that\'s what I\'m calling out as a potential to change, it\'s pretty small stuff.

I think they\'ve just done a really nice job here. The topography is very dialed in. It makes a lot of sense. One thing that I\'m noticing here is that this text size and this text size is very close to each other. Sometimes it can be helpful to make your sub, you know, this is almost like a subheading, right?

Like if this is your heading, I guess this is a subheading, but this is kind of your next piece of intro to make that slightly more so that there\'s no confusion that you really, you\'re creating hierarchy. So this is a little close. I might make it a little different, a little bit more pronounced.

And then they get away with this switching from left, left aligned to centered here. It works. And the reason it works is because this is they one, they leave enough padding right here, but then two is they have this sentence that is just long enough where it\'s kind of creates a horizontal that\'s kind of, that can be a no, no type of graphically and in design.

So one thing they could do would be to put another bar here like they\'ve done here, or they could left align it. Or they could, you know, put the CTA left aligned here, and then some copy on the right or vice versa. You know, there\'s, there\'s a lot of things that they could do. It does actually work here and it\'s not terrible.

I see so many mistakes though in that way, and that seems like, are you serious? That\'s, that\'s really annoying. But I think what it ends up feeling like is if you do that incorrectly, it feels broken. And when you have a design that feels broken, it communicates in a subtle way that like your tool is untrustworthy and there\'s a reason for these design rules.

They aren\'t arbitrary. They aren\'t like some. You know, some designer didn\'t come up with them because that was a way to be nit-picky. It creates stability and stability, communicates trust and trust is what your customer needs to really value what you\'re doing. So these are soft parts of improving email.

In terms of a hard improvement. I\'d love to know the data on, is this helping, you know, continue. Pushing the onboarding or people using it, but it seems like it\'s communicating clearly and then moving down through this flow. This is what I think is interesting, right? It\'s like \\"Pro Tip #2\\".

Now, one thing I\'m noticing here is that they\'re switching aesthetic on this top area. I\'m not sure why, but I started with this one and then now I\'m switching over here. Where did the illustrations go and why am I now doing kind of a marker more hand handmade thing? I don\'t know enough about the product to know if this shows up in other places in the product.

It is inviting and exciting. It\'s interesting, but it is new, so you want to make sure that it\'s serving that purpose. I think you know what the fuck are custom fields and smart channels, you know? Okay. What if it was more like customers are using custom fields and smart channels to do X, Y, and Z, which is improving ABC, do you want to know how to use them? So just \\"What are they?\\" I don\'t know if it\'s like drawing me in, right. Maybe there\'s something that\'s a little bit more, that serves me as, as a tip. so that might be something,

Matt Helbig: I guess, like for me, I like this sort of mini case study idea. Thinking about other brands, maybe like a Slack or something where they pull in a lot more personal data about what you\'ve done so far or something like that. I guess like this, this onboarding email is still pretty successful, but maybe pulling in a little bit more data with these pro tips about you or something, but I do enjoy that. You know, they\'re kind of standalone things and then they push you out to another page.

Matthew Smith: I think imagery too of the app could be helpful here in this process. You can see here on this final one, the illustration is a little different than on first day, if I\'m not mistaken, eh, I guess it\'s got shadows and stuff.

Probably it fits. It looks a little more detailed. To me. And so it\'s again, nit-picky, but if you can maintain your design aesthetic than that\'s helpful for brand. I think it\'s working well. It\'s very clear what I need to do. If I want to keep using Flock, I need to upgrade. Here are the reasons to upgrade and upgrade to pro.

It might be helpful there to know, like if I don\'t upgrade, what I\'m going to lose or how much upgrade is going to cost for me in this. A social proof about like Belinda. Upgraded and she\'s super happy she did it. And here\'s her testimonial. some social proof there or some Twitter quotes. I left this company to use flock instead and I\'ve been really happy for these reasons.

That kind of stuff, like this is a decision point. So making sure that you\'d double down about, you know, what\'s possible there. Those are some like hard things that I think could be changed about the email and again, using maybe a GIF or something like that to communicate what\'s happening in the tool or maybe some stats about how people have used the tool and it\'s been improving their productivity or communication, things like that. What about you?

Matt Helbig: Yeah. With this last one, I\'m just thinking about, I guess it does feel pretty salesy. There\'s no like continue using without upgrading or maybe there\'s like a need more time sort of thing that allows you to, upgrade a pro for 10% off for the first month or something. I also would maybe like some sort of module around like still have any questions, like contact our customer service or send us an email.

Overall, I really liked the time\'s up sort of module. It actually kind of makes it feel like a little more urgency around it. It being red and stuff like that. It makes me feel like the obvious choice here is to upgrade a pro and then, you know, listing out the features again. But it would be nice if there was some dynamic stat here about your use case or you know, how many, you know, you saved this much time or you.

You know, you created this many projects just about, you know, outlining what your trial was about. And I guess with those tips previously too, it kind of made me think like, how many tips am I going to expect over this onboarding series? Is it one a day? So we\'ve seen some brands kind of have a counter somewhere in these emails as well, letting, you know, like how many emails are you going to get during your trial period. Is it once a da? Or you know, can you opt in or opt out at those if you don\'t need them or something? So it\'d be interesting, I guess creating that journey up until this 15th day kind of being clear about what kind of messaging you can expect. That would be maybe a nice little value add as well.

Matthew Smith: Another thing that I like here is this, you\'re receiving this email because you\'re an admin for your team on Flock. I think that\'s cool. That\'s a nice little way of reminding people. You know what\'s going on. Also, they\'re using live text that\'s freaking rad

Matt Helbig: In all all these is really good.

Matthew Smith: Great. Keep rocking Flocking.

Matt Helbig: Yeah. I love to see how this performs. You know what kind of A/B testing they can maybe do, but to me this is a pretty well thought out onboarding series, and I\'m interested to see, you know, how it kind of works out for them.

Matthew Smith: Yeah. These are flocking good emails.

Matt Helbig: Well have a great week!

Matthew Smith: Bye.

Matt Helbig: Bye.

This week we look at Flock\'s nurture emails.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Keeping the email simple and paired down can give your audience just enough information about a product update, leading them to learn more on a landing page.

2. Aim for 45 - 75 characters on a line, especially if you go wide with your paragraph text. This is also known as the \\"measure.\\"

3. Using large, clear, heavy-weighted titles and illustrations can help balance the design.

Matthew Smith: Hey, it\'s Friday, everybody. Happy Friday, Matt Helbig. How are you doing? It\'s Feedback Friday. 

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, Matthew Smith? Welcome back to another episode of Feedback Friday.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/J6LhVZgy52Y

Matthew Smith: Here this week, we are here with FontShop. I\'ve been following these folks for a long old time cause I love me some typography.

They\'ve been doing some exciting stuff for a long time, but one of the fascinating things about them is they have gone wide. They\'re a wide load here, man. They\'re pushing some boundaries. I think it\'s working. So let\'s walk through that. If you\'re a font brand and you\'re showing off visuals of how people use typography within different examples, like these albums here, for instance. You want beautiful, powerful imagery. What better way to try and use full-screen design if possible? Making sure that it translates to mobile as well. Nice big fonts.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/new-arrivals-have-just-landed-browse-the-latest-on-fontshop

Now here, they\'re doing something interesting that I think they\'re pulling it off. And it\'s not something I generally recommend, which is a centered headline with left-aligned text. Now, I guess that they\'re choosing left align text down here because centered aligned with this much text is challenging to read, or it becomes more challenging to read.

Notice that the text is large enough that you can read it. Like this is called the measure typographically. So that measure is such with a size of that type that it works. Now that said, I\'m guessing that they\'re counting on people\'s email browsers not being like super wide since you usually don\'t browse an email widescreen.

But maybe they account for that. I don\'t know. But one of the reasons that it works here is because of how simple it is. They have nice, big titles, real clear, really large, very heavyweight. And then nice big type here that keeps your measure. The measure means the number of characters on a line. 

I think that the number of characters on a line is supposed to be less than something like 5. As long as you\'re in that range, then you\'re doing well. Some type nerd is going to say it\'s not 58, it\'s 62. So we\'ll see.

I\'m into this. I think they\'re making it work, man. I love seeing how people use typography from a brand perspective. I come through here. Very quickly. I get to see, Oh man, I like how that type works. I could see using that. I could see getting behind that. I\'m going to go buy it. There\'s nothing that shows you the font more than like how somebody else does it. Now, one thing I might change, I guess, that it could get pretty heavyweight, but if you could do a GIF there with three slides of different uses of typography and get the file size down, I think that could be pretty interesting, but they do an excellent job of running through this. 

Matt Helbig: I think the use of embedded fonts is great to see. I think you can poke around their code and maybe see how they\'re doing some of this. I believe they have a home-court advantage because they own many of these fonts, but it is interesting to see how they\'re using these wackier fonts in email.

It\'s pretty unique as well that they are live text. I don\'t know if I love these hero images. I\'m not sure exactly if they\'re the best showcase of these individual fonts. For me, I think maybe even some animation could be nice. I liked the little pulsating heart at the top of the email.

For some of these fonts, I\'d almost like to see them more embedded in the different sections. I think in some other examples, they might use color a little bit more to break up the individual sections to sort of match these styles. So to me, this is just a pretty short newsletter-style focusing on these three or four brand new fonts. In general, I think it does a pretty good job of getting the message across, but I feel like there might even be a better strategy to showcase these individual fonts. Maybe focusing on one and showing multiple styles on different colors and things like that. 

Matthew Smith: Look at one of their others in and keep comparing. One of the things you can see here in this email is that this white, black, yellow is a big, big part of their brand. And then what they try and do, I think, is get out of the way visually so that the typography examples can stand alone on their own.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/thank-you-for-subscribing-to-our-letternews

So I like the way that they continue to use this, \\"Looks best in browser\\" GIF, and this time it\'s a little different. The low contrast here is interesting. I was a little bit surprised by that, but let\'s keep going and see what\'s going on. So they\'re showcasing a sale, which I think is cool.

They get in here and say the next order is 20% off. That\'s a neat little illustration. This is more about them, I think, as a shop, rather than the typography that they\'re showcasing. This feels really on brand. I also like this hover state. That\'s a nice little touch that they bring in here. This is fascinating to see this coming through. And then finishing with a map to it looks like probably Germany that they are. Yep.

One thought here is, this is another one where this is interesting to me. They are almost using this as movie credits, the way that they\'re like talking about managing directors and things like that. But it\'s like, is that serving the user?

That\'s one that I\'ve always asked, and if it\'s not like, if this isn\'t critical information to me then maybe it could go, or perhaps it could be buried in the link that I could as a user, go in and read more about—some of those kinds of things. But I do appreciate the consistency of the illustrations, and this one\'s really on brand. Feels pretty good.

Matt Helbig: Yeah. I liked this one. I feel like pairing down the yellow throughout the rest of the email using those brand colors is smart. So this one, compared to the last one, to me, it feels a little bit more put together as a product update email, and like a discount email, this one\'s pretty straightforward. I don\'t have that much feedback. 

I think they\'re effectively using formatting. Using bold and font sizes and things like that. Keeping things pretty simple and pared down. I think these give me enough information, but still, lead me to want to go to a landing page to learn a little more.

So overall, I think this one\'s pretty straightforward and a pretty clean example.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I agree, man. I think this is a really basic newsletter. It\'s just showing me some text, some images, and some CTAs, but they\'ve done it well. One of the things that many people end up doing is they add complexity to their emails that aren\'t necessary and end up creating a muddy water situation where it\'s hard to know what to do as a user.

In this case, I\'m very clear about what I want to do. I want to start exploring, or I want to shop, or I want to learn more about this interview. So I\'m pretty into simplicity. If you\'re going to have a very simple newsletter, this is a great way to do it. Good work, FontShop. If anybody has any questions about a FontShop or questions directly to FontShop, let us know in the comments.

Always please subscribe. Let us know how you\'d like to see it improve or other brands that you\'d like to see showcased.

Matt Helbig:  See you next week, Email Geeks. 

Matthew Smith: See ya.

FontShop is a leading font retailer based in Berlin, Germany, offering 150,000+ font selections for desktop, mobile, and web.

How do you get your email team on the same page to create a consistent message and design that serves your audience? This week, we dive into some GIF emails that push email to the limit with Rob Hope from One Page Love and Email Love.

Knak sponsored this FF episode. Schedule a demo to build your own really good emails and get them to market in minutes.

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\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Watch your email size and think about who's your audience. Your email team should decide together: What's the limit with the email? What's the bar? Can you achieve the intensity you're aiming for with a smaller email? Make sure the email (and email size) serves the audience.

2. Check your analytics before creating something new and check-in with your audience. Ask all of your subscribers OR ask a select group of subscribers how they feel about a new design you're testing out. The more you get to know your audience, the closer of a relationship you'll have with them, and you'll earn their loyalty toward your brand.

3. Talk with your email team to decide what the objective of the email is. How can you incorporate that objective into the email copywriting and design? Own it. Maintain your brand uniqueness. Refine your typography and design styles to dial that in. Fewer changes = less friction. Be consistent.

*BONUS* Use as much live text as possible in your emails and in CTA buttons for the best accessibility and design experience.

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Matthew Smith: Happy Feedback Friday, everybody. It's a good day to be alive. I am here with Rob Hope of One Page Love and Email Love. I am super psyched to talk about Formula 1. This is going to be sick. Look at these frickin amazing GIFs.

I want to pimp Landing Page Hot Tips here for Rob. He didn't pay me for this, but I'm just psyched about it. I went through all 100 days, and we all need to read this stuff. I am telling you about this because our audience is always looking for better ways to learn design. And I believe that emails are landing pages delivered. Learning about great design and strategy tips for landing pages are killer. Rob's got the book to boot. Get into these emails. It's super helpful. Thank you for putting them together, Rob. Again, I loved it. Great copywriting in it and great examples. Well done.

Rob Hope: Thank you. It's interesting because when you promise a hundred emails in a hundred days, it may seem overwhelming, but I spent so much time stripping the email lessons down to their core.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/4dtirA7g6Wg

Rob Hope: Sometimes, you get two paragraphs. And it's just a reminder about some fundamentals when it comes to design, and I still get so many replies.

So, it's an email drip. If you sign up today, you get hot tip one today or tip two tomorrow, hot tip a hundred and a hundred days. It's crazy because I set this up a couple of months ago, and I’m still getting replies. Someone replies to, you know, tip number 70 today to go.

And dude, I appreciate this one. I'm like, which one was that again? And you'll be surprised at how many people got through a hundred. It's the appreciation of just cutting down lessons. People appreciate snackable bites of information.

Matthew Smith: I agree, man. Especially these days, there's so much information, so much noise. It's hard to break through. So speaking of that, how is email working in that engagement? We've talked before about this idea that email is utility minimum viable content. Get it out there, say your thing, do it with as few elements as possible. What's killing it in that way in this email?

Rob Hope: We're always going to turn to GIFs to try and create a little bit of action in our emails, and they've nailed it. So this is a Formula 1 car. As it hits the showcase, the copy comes in. It's just remarkable. There's no email in your inbox that looks like this.

It has all the same traits to watching a live race. Cameras everywhere cars buzzing past. So it's reminding you about the action that's coming up. It's an excitement builder and so on.

I’ve torn this email apart a bit, and it's quite interesting. This GIF is 3.4 megabytes.

You know, I want to just throw the question at you. Matthew, what do you see out there? Like where is the limit? Because this email is a 7.3-megabyte email. That's what you're loading on your phone. And the GIF itself is at 3.4 MEG. Is it too much?

Matthew Smith: It's such a hard question. So, let's go into Matthew's storytime. I quit drinking four and a half years ago. Life had to change. Things weren't working, and on that journey - I swear, I'm going to get back to the point here - I discovered this narrative of how rarely binaries work.

Binaries being like, this is true. That is not true. This is right. That is not right. There are very few things in this world where that kind of binary thinking works, or it's helpful, or it serves people, and I think this is a good example.

So, one of the things that I think about here is, who's the audience? Is somebody going to be looking at this email in Sub-Saharan Africa where there's no internet connection? Probably not, I don't know. That's the question. A 7.3 MB email? That's a lot for a little bit of communication. This team that's putting this email together needs to decide together, what is the limit? What is the bar? Could we accomplish this intensity... You can almost hear that *wah wah* Wow. You know, it's just jamming. You feel it. That's cool. That gets me. Is it worth it? You have to figure it out with your audience. You know, generally speaking - best practices, this is too big.

So I would say that 7.3 MBs will be pushing a limit that's on this far end, but is it serving their audience? Only they can know that. That's where I think there's no truism out there. There's no binary find out from your audience. Here's the thing not to do: don't just put something out there and not check your analytics, not check to see how it was affected. Check-in with your audience. Ask them a question: find out is this working? Is this annoying?

You can either ask them in an email, like, this email specifically. Hey, this was a big email. Did this suck, or was it okay? You can break the third wall and get into a conversation with your audience. Or you can email 25 audience members and ask for an interview. You can give them a $10 Amazon gift card for something like that. Learn more about how your emails are serving them. Learn more about them as people. And the more you get to know your audience, the more in a relationship you can be with them. And the more vital that relationship is, the more loyalty you can garner for your brand.

Rob Hope: I just want to add three things out of this GIF that other email designers and creators out there can take. Three things are happening here that make this unique because this could be a little square within the email, but it's not. It's full width. It's got this little band at the bottom, which is part of the GIF. So it feels unique. You know, this is the Formula 1 brand aesthetic where it's got bends and turns everywhere, but they've included that in the intro.

Matthew Smith: This curve you're talking about, it's right from this \\\"F.\\\" You feel it. The brand system has identified to use angles. See the angle of the yellow here.

I think it's the same as the \\\"F\\\" here. You're spot on, dude. I didn't even notice that until you pointed it out. You feel it.

Rob Hope: Yeah, so it's super on brand. But another thing that I want to mention is that this header with the logo and the issue number is part of the GIF.

And what this does is it creates this feeling that there's a car driving over the email. I know I'm dramatic. They didn't have to do that, but this GIF...the whole image has taken over. And then the third thing is that they've included the flag colors within the type.

So there's just so much in this intro, and that's exactly what the Formula 1's going to be. You know, the copywriting, you love it. We love it—twenty gurgling beasts returning to the track. The copywriting is just on point when it comes to the hype before the race. Our call to action buttons, we can call that copywriting to get in the know, expert advice.

This could just say click here. It doesn't. Every single thing has to do with creating the hype. So again, when you're talking with your team, what is the objective of the email? The top of the pyramid is hype, and we've got here, Formula 1 cars coming and riding over the email logos. We've got good copywriting.

This is a very comprehensive email, as well. We've got little snippets, expert advice. If you scroll a little bit further, you'll see there's Mark Webber. Yeah, I love the big images.

So yeah. Look for graphics of the actual track. You get to see all the different turns. As a Formula 1 fan, you want the nuances, you want the specific information. As a fan, you are happy with this email.

Matthew Smith: It's so consistent too. Notice, this was interesting. They've got sort of a sub-branded space happening here. I think that must be drawing on some Star Wars theming or something like that, right? You feel this neon lightsaber, and they go ahead and own it.

Instead of using this same red here, they maintain that sort of brand uniqueness here.

They've done a nice job. Let's look at this other one. What are the things that you see here again that are mimicked in this one?

Rob Hope: Brilliant. So you can see that design system, you know, they've got a massive document that they're just ticking with every send.

This GIF, I'm not even sure how they created this. Probably with some animation tools. But that's a very impressive GIF to start an email. It just shows speed. You know, that's a speed blur. Even the fonts, like slightly blurred around the edges, meaning that you can't even read things because it's going so fast.

So yeah, that is just super consistent with the other send. The colors are strong. If you scroll down this email, you see a very similar format, but again, look at this track. This Grand Prix is coming up in Austria, and they're showing you this track. That is exactly what you would like to know.

So, let's talk about positioning yourself when you're about to start creating this email, the team gets together, and they ask themselves, what exactly would a Formula 1 fan want to see in a fan email leading up to the race? And you know what you want to see? You want to see the noteworthy corners, look at last year for Verstappen tussled with Leclerc in turn for, you know what I mean, oh, I remember that, sparking an old memory.

So it's got these little highlights, and this is proper fan stuff. You recall old stories, you know. This is not for new Formula 1 fans. This is for real fanatics.

Matthew Smith: I love it. And even if you're not on that level, you feel it. And you're invited into that. There's so much that's happening here.

And we talked a little bit about the weight, the file size of these emails, and the more time I spend in these, the more I realize it's a trade-off. Think about what Formula 1 fans are doing on TV. They're spending a lot of time in front of a very visual experience.

This brand is very visual. Yes, they support it with great copywriting. They don't let that slide off. Also, I appreciate that they bring in live text as often as possible here, but you know, they do something unique. This coded in an email would have been a challenging thing to do - it would have been amazing, but okay. We're not going to go to town on something like that, but we are going to still use as much live text as possible. They do that well.

They could easily get what's called a bulletproof button set up here where they could have that live text. If there's one thing other than increased live text, which I'm always just going to be banging on about that, I would love to see here would be just a little more refinement in terms of the use of different typography design styles.

So I talk about design golf, and I think they could go one or two steps further in just dialing that in a little bit. I understand they have these sort of sub-brand moments, and they use different fonts to break in with some of that kind of stuff.

This is a different font than some of this up here. There's some shared characteristics. They add a lot. And I think that's part of the brand, but me personally, especially in an email, if there's anything you can do to keep the email in sort of a utilitarian way of thinking, it's little stuff like the grid.

So there's a lot of different places in the grid. You've got left-aligned. Now you've got a bizarre, not quite center aligned. Then this kind of unique lockup, left-aligned again. Right-aligned again, or this time, and then left-aligned again. And then a little bit of different. On their own, any of those things are fine, but they add up to many differences, which causes some friction, I think.

So, just something that I think from my perspective. Do you agree with that, Rob, or do you have a different perspective?

Rob Hope: No, I agree with that for sure. I see this in landing pages as well, and it's so overlooked. I'm not saying that this team isn't top design, but there's an inconsistency in vertical spacing.

This is just something that happens in emails where we don't ever look at it. It's so difficult. But if you look under the buttons, they're not all the same spacing. Some of the headings...I'm trying to be harsher, but I think they've achieved quite a lot for what they've done.

You know, they're trying to make it comprehensive. They're trying to gain the hype. They've got their GIFs. So there are some trade-offs here. Maybe there were time constraints. 

Maybe this email took a hundred hours, and that infographic they did of the track, they say to ourselves, okay, well, if we have 20 hours left of our time allocation, maybe let's attempt this. But they ran out of time, and then now you ask yourself as an email team, you say, Do we not include it because it's an image or do we have it as an image? And I think it's the right call, but it's just interesting. It's all a trade-off.

Matthew Smith: That's right. That's a good way to put it as trade-offs. I think they've balanced out so much. And generally speaking, email teams are tiny. To achieve this much with likely a small group, I think it's pretty impressive.

Feedback Friday folks, if other emails are high quality like this that we should be reviewing, please submit them or just let us know on Twitter @ReallyGoodEmail or Instagram, @ReallyGoodEmails. Twitter didn't allow us the \\\"S\\\", so we had to remove that.

It's so good to have you on again, Rob. We'll have to do this again before too long. And dude, it's always just good to be with you. What are you going to get up to this weekend?

Rob Hope: Man, I've been working pretty hard, and like you were saying that you were going to take a trip. I think I'm also going to spend some time in the ocean. Hopefully, I'll get a few surfs in and clock off, get a hard recess, and then bang out the next week.

Matthew Smith: Dude, one of these days, I want to come to learn to surf with you. That would be so sick.

Rob Hope: We have plenty of waves in South Africa, man.

Matthew Smith: I grew up snowboarding and skating. So, it's in my blood. I want to take that leap to learn the nuances that are surfing. I've heard it can help, but also it's its own thing. I've always wanted to get over to South Africa.

Rob Hope: You’re always welcome.

Matthew Smith: Thanks my man. It'll be good to catch up again soon. Feedback Friday folks, email geeks, thanks for being here. Stay healthy. Stay safe. Remember to be kind, to be really good, and we will see you the next time. Peace!

Rob Hope: Ciao, guys.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Start with a base template to build the foundation of an email design system for the client. You (or the client) can use the design system to easily add or remove modules and change the template to fit their branding. This saves everyone time since you’ve already coded the template.

2. When clients send you email assets, check out the file contents ASAP to decide if this will be a simple project with a quick turnaround, or if it will be a more involved and time-consuming project. Set realistic expectations.

3. Send test emails to get feedback from the client on the design, accessibility, interactivity, etc. If the client pushes back on something that you don’t agree with (like using a responsive template), coach the client as much as you can with the facts. Educate them, but if they still don’t agree, then don\'t force anything on them.

*BONUS* Figma can be a good alternative to Photoshop or Sketch since it uses slick design, prototype, and code view panels. There’s a learning curve with Figma, but you don’t have to interact with the tool as much once you’ve got it down.

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, email geeks. Welcome back to another Feedback Friday. This week, we have a returning friend of the show, Anne Tomlin. Welcome back. It\'s been a minute since we\'ve had you on.

Anne Tomlin: Yeah, but I\'m glad to be here again.

Matt Helbig: Time flies when you\'re making emails, I guess.

Anne Tomlin: Absolutely.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/LbLQirJWVXA

Matt Helbig: These are some emails that you made from Fundrise. I had a chance to look at some of the live emails they\'re sending, but these are the templates you made.

Anne Tomlin: So the client gave me a Figma file with every single mockup of a module that they would need. Every single one. And they were all in five different files. What I ended up doing was creating those five files with all the modules in them. Those five emails contain all the modules that Fundrise will ever need.

They put them into their ESP and can switch around whatever order they need. For whatever modules to be in whatever order. It was just easier to create them, to code them all together at one time with each email.

Matt Helbig: Were they starting from scratch, or do they have something in place already, or they hand over these Figma files, and this is a newer brand?

Anne Tomlin: Yeah. They handed over the files and said go. They provided their mockups and their font and pretty much said go for it. Do as much as you can.

Matt Helbig: When they handed over those files, were there any limitations that you didn\'t think could work with email, or were they pretty straightforward with how they laid everything out?

Anne Tomlin: They gave me the files and said, is there anything in these that can\'t be done or that would take a ridiculous amount of time, something like that. And I looked at it, it said no, but sometimes when clients hand over stuff, they do have a couple of things that may not work in email or take a little too much time to create. That was not the case with Fundrise 

Matt Helbig: These are pretty in-depth, pretty extensive. I think how everything is scaling is looking nice. How do you get started with this? Before, you mentioned maybe like a base template that you\'re maybe starting with and then try and code out these individual sections.

Anne Tomlin: Yep. That\'s exactly right. So I started with my base template. My base template has every structure that I have built ever. I can quickly start with that and then take out any structures that I don\'t need and create each of these modules, one on top of each other.

So it doesn\'t take me too horribly long to code something like this because it\'s kind of already all coded. It just needs to be changed a little bit to fit their branding like this one at the top right here. It says new apartment development. I didn\'t have those three columns right next to each other.

So I had to create that for them. The big parts of the email, the modules themselves are already done. That\'s always just a copy paste and then put in whatever is missing specific to the brand. 

Matt Helbig: So did you have to do any ESP work or any integration stuff with them, or was it just handing off the HTML?

Anne Tomlin: I handed off the HTML. Usually, I like to put the code in the ESP. This client just decided they wanted to do it themselves. From the emails that I\'ve got from them that use this modular system, they are doing a great job.

Matt Helbig: We\'ve been using Figma a lot too internally, and I wonder if that better than Photoshop or something for you? Did you find it a little easier to use?

Anne Tomlin: I like that it provides the hex colors. You don\'t have to interact with it as much as a PSD or a Sketch file. With those, you have to find the exact hex number and measure the distances between elements, but with Figma, that information is already available. It\'s in a design type of pane that shows you there are 25 pixels between these two segments that I think is helpful. I would say that Figma has a little bit of a learning curve, though.

Matt Helbig: This is another template. How did you guys split this up?

Anne Tomlin: I think what they did was gather the modules that would be the most often with each other. That\'s how I created five of them so that the modules are already with the modules that they will most often appear with. That way, the client can pull up one of the five and then use that as a basis to pull in or out any modules.

Matt Helbig: Are you seeing that more and more with clients with a design system or idea of how their emails might work down the road? Or is it dependent on each one?

Anne Tomlin: So kind of a mix, but I will say that I enjoy this kind of work a little more. The modular system is making it so that the client can use it in multiple different ways. I like the satisfaction that I get after building something like that.

Matt Helbig: It\'s great to see all this use of live text. A lot of times on this show, we don\'t always get live text.

Anne Tomlin: I\'d say it is a very important thing to me to have live text.

Matt Helbig: This is an excellent case to see sort of the skeleton template that you can populate content with and test different things, pull things in dynamically when you\'re not having to worry about slicing paragraphs or something like that. I think it frees up the design template to take a lot of different types of content.

Anne Tomlin: I will also say that the design of this is very clean, which is helpful when creating something that\'s as modular as this. There are not too many background images or background colors that need to be right up against another image to match the background colors. Those are hard to do in dark mode. With these modules, they don\'t have any of that. So it\'s very, really clean.

Matt Helbig: I like the constraint with these templates in their branding. I feel like they\'re trying only to use a couple of colors, and I think it focuses their message on the main content and the CTAs they want you to click. Cool to see that they had a vision going into this rather than some financial brands bogged down by legalese, but this still feels pretty clean. Even though you do have a big chunk of legal, I still think it does an excellent job balancing design and function.

Anne Tomlin: I think I even probably said to them at one point, wow, this is pretty. This is a nice modular system you\'ve got here. I can\'t wait to build it.

Matt Helbig: Speaking of dark mode, this is what dark mode looks like on these emails. How much more time did you have to spend optimizing these for dark mode? I know this is a newer topic. People are a little scared of it.

Anne Tomlin: I would say maybe an additional 15 to 20 minutes. It doesn\'t take very long to get all the colors right and put in the actual code. What you see on screen is what Apple mail and iOS mail look like that respect the dark styles declared in the head tag. I took the background color that is already in the light mode and darkened it by 90%.

Then put the style in to change that background color to keep the same feel of the light mode, but just darker. I will say that Fundraise did not give me any instruction on the dark mode. I just basically said, do you want dark mode styles? They said yes. I went ahead and did what I thought looked best.

Matt Helbig: Dark mode, I don\'t think, is something that\'s going to go away super soon, and more people are opting in on it, depending on newer devices. I think it makes sense to think about that going in when you start email design, to be aware that some email clients will try to force things into dark mode if you have that option turned on. It\'s better to understand a little bit about how the emails are laid out so you can better respond to that. 

Anne Tomlin: I think that the best way to treat dark moon is to design for it. Before the design is completely done, possibly get in there beforehand, and see what it looks like. If, what Outlook or whatever changes the colors, inverts them fully, what does that look like?

Then you can go from there and change a few things about the email design itself that would make it a little better in the dark mode clients that invert your colors. That doesn\'t respect any styles that you\'ve put in.

Matt Helbig: I do think it is a little bit still complicated on exactly the support everywhere. So I don\'t think you\'re going to get it a hundred percent perfect. I know that it may be hard for brands that have to approve a specific design, but if you are approving every single email client exactly how it\'s going to look, that will take a while. If you follow some good email coding best practices, once you turn that dark on, there\'s hopefully isn\'t tons that you\'ll have to tweak.

Anne Tomlin: Yeah. What you\'ve pulled up here is an interesting one of what they had me do. They had all different mockups of this particular module. Of what it\'s going to look like with various buttons and button colors and such. When I\'m creating this stuff, it seems strange. 

It looks kind of weird with the same thing, one on top of each other. I think that it\'s helpful for the client to be able to have this stuff done and pull in the module that they want that looks best with whatever design they have chosen for whatever email they\'re doing at that moment.

Matt Helbig: Are there any recommendations that you did for them or extra enhancements. I know you said the dark mode styling, but did they give you desktop and mobile layouts?

Anne Tomlin: I\'m not sure if they gave me mobile layouts. I would probably say they did because they were really on the ball with everything. Even if any client does not give me a mobile mockup, I use my best judgment. I\'ve been doing this for ten years now or a little more.

I generally know what the best mobile layout is going to be when I see a desktop design. I think that most of my clients trust that it\'ll look right. If they don\'t like it, when I send them the Litmis links, they\'ll tell me they want it changed. I will gladly change it.

Matt Helbig: That\'s good. Some people I\'ve worked with are print designers, and they only understand one specific layout. I tried to inform them that most people on our list are opening on a mobile device. We should spend some extra time to optimize for that view.

Anne Tomlin: Totally. Sometimes some clients will come back and say, Hey, we don\'t want this to be responsive for some reason. I\'ll coach as much as I can as to why I think it should be responsive or, in any circumstance, why I believe that this way is better than that way, but if they don\'t want it, then I\'m not going to force them to do it.

Matt Helbig: I had some of the live emails thought we could take a quick look at. So this first one is a nice looking welcome email. The first one that I got, and it was pretty inviting for a welcome email. It\'s nice to see how they\'re using those different sections in the building, this communication, but it doesn\'t look that much different than the template that you laid out for them.

Anne Tomlin: When I build things, I try to keep it as simple as possible with a lot of code notes so that if the client is going into the code to make these changes, it helps them navigate. They can build the email a little faster if you have some documentation. Suppose they have some guidelines, even in the code. I think that that helps them.

Matt Helbig: I like all of their emails. I feel, as you said, that they\'re pretty simple and straightforward. Do you tend to point people towards these more simple text designs? I feel like sometimes people would try to over-complicate email.

Anne Tomlin: I don\'t necessarily push in one direction or another for the design, but I try and educate. I kind of pride myself on code most, anything in email, but I also will be like, yes; I can create this; however, these are the reasons you shouldn\'t want me to make it this way. Let\'s think about accessibility, image sizes—that gently pushing to maybe a little cleaner of a layout.

Matt Helbig: You\'re more on the development side, but were there any design parts of these that you may be wanting to experiment with something new or are tweak a bit?

Anne Tomlin: Not in this one. With the layout, this clean and nice that I didn\'t have anything to experiment on. It all pretty much was in nicely coded modules. Anything new that a design that has got some layovers and stuff like that, I will try new techniques and always make my code a little bit better. With these guys, they were already on point. I didn\'t have very much to counsel them on.

Matt Helbig: I am impressed, especially with this bottom section. I feel most people would cheat on this one. They would maybe make the rest of this live text, but this one would be like a bottom cover image. So it is nice to see that this stuff has live text as we saw it with the dark mode. If those styles are there, this does look much better than having a single banner there.

Anne Tomlin: Live text is the hill I will die on. It is the most important thing to me when I\'m coding is making sure that everybody can get the message of the email. I want the message to get to everyone and for there to be no blocks in the way.

Matt Helbig: This one\'s even more dynamic, which I think is cool to see, just because of how much time you probably save with that live text, being able to populate this entire module with dynamic content. So you do not ever have to lay this out if you do it right. This email can just trigger pulling in all this information.

Anne Tomlin: I didn\'t have access to the ESP, but I get these emails as well. I can tell you for sure that I did not get the same four of these examples in this particular order. So it must be dynamic content. If they set it up to where there are only so many possibilities for each of the three columns next to each other, they must be super easy to bang out and send for however often send this email. I would love to see it in the ESP, but from what I can tell, it seems like they\'ve done an excellent job of taking the modules and using them to their full potential.

Matt Helbig: So, do you have any resources for people like starting coding? I feel like some people in our audience might be stuck in a small ESP where they\'re more familiar with just messing around with a WYSIWYG editor. Is it best to let a professional do some of this, or are there some small things that you can learn to help you out with coding?

Anne Tomlin: I think that maybe not the modules we\'re looking at now, since that required many nested tables. These were pretty difficult to make and get them looking right. Some of the other ones that are a little easier, maybe the 50/50 that would have an image and a block of text, those sorts of less complicated modules, the way that I learned it, go through other people\'s code. The more exposure you get to it, the more you\'ll learn how to use it correctly and then change it to whatever you need for any circumstance. I would invite anybody to look at the code for these. Please feel free to learn from them.

Matt Helbig: Here\'s the time you can plug all your stuff. Is there anything you want to plug?

Anne Tomlin: I guess I would like to plug my website. It\'s emailsyall.com. It shows you what I can do, and if you want to hire me, you can contact me through there.

Matt Helbig: So wait, you\'re going to code my emails too and make them look this good?

Anne Tomlin: If you would like, yes, if you want me to do it, I can. I enjoy it.

Matt Helbig: Well, thanks for coming on. It\'s always a pleasure to have you on.

Anne Tomlin: Totally. I love to be here.

How do you educate clients on the world of email while building a template that they can easily update? This week we go behind the scenes with Anne Tomlin from Emails Y’All to learn how she creates design systems and customizes client emails.

GoPro is a technology company that manufactures versatile action cameras and develops video-editing software.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Lead into the email with a crisp photo to showcase product characteristics.

2. Keep the CTAs focused, and run a split test to try serving up different promotions. Target one deal in Email A. Run two deals in Email B. Keep an eye on which email performs best and see what you learn.

3. Balance the CTAs and product photography. If you’re showcasing a variety of products, spotlight the main CTA at the top of the email, and make the rest of the CTAs secondary.

*BONUS*: Underline text CTAs. Make it clear that they’re links, or change up the verbiage so each CTA is different. See if that helps drive sales.

Matthew Smith: Hey, it\'s Feedback Friday, everybody. I hope everyone\'s having a fantastic finish to your week and ready for another good episode. Today, we will jump in, and I\'ve got Kelly on our team who will join me in doing some review of some fantastic email. Kelly, Thanks for joining me. This is fun to have you.

Kelly Lamano: Thanks, Matthew. It\'s fun to be here.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/fzSl-QXVuUg

Matthew Smith: This is GoPro, a company no one has ever heard of, but you know, just kidding. I would love to hear what\'s doing it for you. What works well in this initial GoPro email?

Kelly Lamano: I love the animation. The background jumps out to me. Since it\'s a Black Friday email, I think it\'s important to grab the reader\'s attention and do something that\'s like, wow.

Having the deal flash in the background is cool. I love that product shot. I think it\'s clean. It\'s crisp. It takes an inanimate object and makes it something that\'s like in motion. So I think that that\'s a cool feature.

Matthew Smith: One of the things I think that\'s working well here is this email\'s simplicity. They\'re just getting out of the way. Get the jump on Black Friday. Boom. Get right in front of people. They use a clear heading and get that shop now, moving. Get you right into the visuals to see what you want to create. This sort of deal graphic is a little bit new, I think, for GoPro. I haven\'t seen it before, but I think that just showing off the product shot makes for a nice image. What, if anything, would you add or change about this email? 

Kelly Lamano: I like how they have the \\"Shop now\\" CTA at the top. It\'s very focused and simple. One thing that I would update is to have maybe one more CTA button at the end. Once you finish scrolling through, I think it\'s more valuable to bring the reader back to the website rather than the social media. You want to drive them towards that product or drive towards that sale. So I would like to see one more CTA button at the bottom.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I agree. I thought the same thing. I\'m sure that there\'s not just one deal going on, but that there might be others. Now that said, that would be a great split test. Try focusing people on just one thing and then run another email where you have two things and see which one performs better. See what you learn. Let\'s jump into a few others here in the GoPro stack.

It looks like this one is around some of the things, some of the current cameras\' features. Again, excellent product imagery. I like how they\'re using two types of light on this product shot. Whether this is an actual product shot or digitally rendered, it is attractive and makes for just a fantastic visual.

I love that they get clear with a big title. Image around like the new nine. Simple subheading. This simple subtext. Shop now. And then they repeat this. They have a secondary CTA here. I\'m a little bit curious about why they switched to that. Instead of using the clear button, they change the imagery using a bit of an angle here, which I think is an excellent way to handle this.

You can see it\'s a PNG. It occupies the space of a rectangular image, but they get a little more action out of that by creating a diagonal here. I think that\'s interesting. They continue to use this same lockup for text. Really consistent. I like how they go top left, down right, top right, down left. They use a zigzag motion to move down through this email. I think it\'s working well. 

They end with another option to subscribe to GoPro and get 50% off, which is pretty cool—assuming that somebody\'s already subscribed to their email. I\'m guessing that\'s like some other subscription, but not just a subscription to email, but some subscription service that they\'ve got. 

Pretty on point in terms of this black that shows off the aesthetic of the GoPro. Over here on mobile, this looks great. I really shows off the photography really well. I think this gray on the outside is not as effective. If it were me, I would make that either a dark gray to still have a feeling of a column here in the primary email. Or I keep it black. It\'s such a high contrast that it just distracts from the email. What about you? 

Kelly Lamano: I agree. I would like to see a darker color, like black, because it takes away from the content. I like the zigzag and how they do put that focus, so it\'s clear on mobile. 

Matthew Smith: What do you think, from your experience Kelly, why are they doing this Secondary CTA as a text and not a button? What\'s your thinking there? 

Kelly Lamano: I think that with the button, that\'s more focused towards maybe people who are just being introduced to GoPro for the first time. Perhaps they haven\'t seen the product, or they haven\'t bought the product before. So that\'s just a bam right in the middle \\"shop now,\\" like go and get it. 

Then as you scroll down, maybe more of like the more advanced GoPro user, they\'re more looking for accessories or something to compliment what they already have. Perhaps it\'s more of a softer, like you already know what\'s going on. Like, you know the deal, here\'s the place where you can shop now. So it\'s a softer CTA. 

Matthew Smith: You might be right. That\'s an interesting way to do it. Start people out with something focused and then slowly draw them down. If I were GoPro, I would test what effect you get if you make all of those the same color CTA and like an actual button. Or if you make this still secondary, but underline it or make it a little bit clearer it is a CTA. 

Even another thing that you could test would be changing up the text. So, \\"See the brand new Zeus mini\\" or \\"get the latest gear\\" or whatever the CTA is instead of just \\"shop now.\\" See if any of those things drive sales. You never know how it\'ll end up affecting things, but it\'s cool to be able to see how those split tests work here. We\'ve got another. They\'re talking about the eight.

Like the first one we saw, I think one of the things working well in this is this idea of leading with an image that shows a lot of the product\'s characteristics. Get in there with that intense color. Super simple title and subtitle, and then this dynamic CTA. Tt\'s powerful. It gets right in there. What do you think?

Kelly Lamano: I love that product shot again. It\'s bringing that product to life, bringing the camera to life, and seeing it really from top to bottom, back to front. It\'s a very simple email, but I think it gets the job done. It\'s just like, \\"Hey, here\'s a new product. Get yours.\\" It\'s very inviting with that CTA.

Matthew Smith: Fantastic. I think this one is my favorite.

Kelly Lamano: This email is also a great example of brand recognition. So GoPro keeps it simple with really like maybe three to four colors at most what the yellow, black, blue, and white. I feel they do an excellent job of being consistent with that and switching it up in emails to use that color scheme. They\'re just using it in a different order.

Matthew Smith: I think you\'re right. One thing, though, I get a different color scheme here, a different color scheme here. I want to see something a little bit more consistent. I love the aesthetic of this, and I would love, and you know, another one here is this font. I\'m pretty sure it\'s not being used here. Yep. So it\'s just an interesting difference. We could have grabbed these GoPro emails at different times. So these might be changes that they\'ve made, but this is nice. It\'s great to see live text. I would love to see a little more consistency between these, but I know it can be challenging to do for a big brand.

So this is even a little bit different still again, another switch in the brand aesthetic. I like this aesthetic a lot, and I think this one has a bit more consistency between the two, probably because of the font. I think what they\'re doing here is interesting using live text. 

I like these highlighted words. But look at this CTA. It\'s a new CTA as well. I wonder maybe these are submissions from over some time. It\'s hard to say. What do you think about this layout? 

Kelly Lamano: The layout draws your eye from right to left, doing that zigzag effect. I liked that it highlights the different accessories. So the other emails are more focused on the camera. Here again, here are some items that can compliment that camera or some things that you can add to your kit when you\'re on the go. So I think they do a great job with that. The CTAs jump out to me.

What do you think about the copy inside the CTA? So they all say, \\"get it.\\" Do you feel like that\'s effective, or do you feel like it might do a little bit better if it had a different word inside each button?

Matthew Smith: A couple of the things that I would probably change would be to get it all in one shot. You get these kits, here they are, and then a CTA. Then, I would let the travel kit and make this one of those secondary CTAs, the same here. As far as the language, I think you\'re right. Like, \\"get your travel on,\\" \\"Start your adventure,\\" \\"Go big with sports.\\" Then where it says, \\"shop all accessories,\\" I would show some kind of image with all the accessories or a bunch of accessories and then \\"shop all your accessories.\\"

But right now, especially these two being so close, I find that it\'s a little bit CTA overwhelming, and it doesn\'t work quite as well. Mobile works a bit better because you\'ve got this image sitting in between those. It\'s one of those balances. But overall, I think some strong things are happening here. And of course, the photography is fun and fantastic.

Well, thanks for walking through this, Ms. Kelly. I love it. Appreciate it. What are you going to be doing this weekend? 

Kelly Lamano: Well, this weekend, I\'ll probably just be hanging out on the couch. I will be watching Taylor Swift\'s folklore film. So, I\'m excited about that. That\'ll be the highlight. How about you? 

Matthew Smith: Well, I\'m going to spend some time with the kids and just trying to get some of that outdoor weather where it\'s safe from COVID, but not be cooped up inside. I am looking forward to that.

Email geeks, thanks for everything. Always. Please let us know what brands you\'d like us to feature and to look at. Don\'t forget; you can submit your emails on reallygoodemails.com, and please subscribe to our channel and let others know about it. We want to keep improving, so let us know what you think. Thanks. Have a good one. 

Kelly Lamano: Bye. Happy Friday.

hardgraft sources quality materials assembled by select artisans in Italy into luxury lifestyle accessories and footwear.

Schedule a personalized demo to see how Iterable enables brands to create, execute and optimize campaigns across email, push, SMS, in-app and more with unparalleled data flexibility.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Underline links, not text. Underlining unlinked text can confuse the reader and make this look like a design mistake.

2.  Keep your design score low on differences in headings, text, lines, and CTAs (think design golf). This can help you see an improvement in the action that you want people to take.

3. Make sure headings and text are large enough to read on mobile.

Matt Helbig: What\'s up Matthew Smith? What\'s up email geeks? Welcome back to another Feedback Friday. This week with a special guest!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/-rZHQAur5Js

Matthew Smith: Special. Hey, we\'re so stoked. We\'ve got Rob Hope here, who has launched Email Love, which is adding this beautiful new gallery to the internet to show off. There is care. There is love for email and it\'s not dying.

It hasn\'t even hit its hay day. And it\'s so rad to have a fellow email lover on with us, hailing from South Africa. So welcome today, bud. 

Rob Hope: Thank you, Matthew. Hey, Matt. Glad to be here guys. Been watching your series on YouTube for the past little while and it\'s just getting better and better. So yea I\'m really grateful to join.

Matthew Smith: Well, we\'re about to skyrocket now with you on, man. It\'s going to be next level 

Rob Hope: Hashtag distribution. 

Matthew Smith: That\'s right. It\'s awesome, man. All right, cool. Well, today we\'re gonna dig into some emails that you helped pick out. And the first one we\'ve got is hardgraft. So I\'m going to drive here, but man, I\'d love you to start us off and have a go at this and start telling us what\'s working in this email and what\'s not 

Rob Hope: Cool. So I mean hardgraft was one of the first brands that I was subscribed to that I would just had to open every single new sender by them. They had this unique white space. There was just subtleties, attention to detail. Their product imagery is phenomenal. But yeah this email\'s really interesting for me because it\'s announcing a new product for sure.

And it talks about the two in one sling bag and the product imagery is pretty good. Recently they\'ve moved to the central logo that overlays the image, which I don\'t particularly love. But then you just like scroll down a bit and if you look at the CTA where it goes, \\"take a look\\", I thought that could be just a little bit more of a visual standout from the whole email.

You\'ll notice if you scroll down to the footer, they use this like little subtle red. I think that\'s like a candy cane icon or something, but like maybe just a nice red CTA. Keep it minimal, subtle. But if you scroll back up, you\'ll see where the second headline as it goes \\"take a look\\" it goes \\"off gray alternatives\\" and that\'s not even a link.

And that\'s like sort of a heading. It\'s not clickable. It feels like a mistake to me and maybe they haven\'t linked it. But, again, just one more critique. And these guys, for me, they send great emails, but for me second, they use their \\"Made in Italy\\" twice. And I just feel like it\'s just lost that classiness.

Anyway, I\'m being critical. I\'m a huge fan of this brand. but yeah, I\'d love to know what you guys think. 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/the-new-trip-passport-cover/

View the Live Email
Edit on CodePen

Matthew Smith: We walk this line with you. It\'s such an interesting play. Like we want to be super positive, but we also hear from some of our fans sometimes, like, you guys are being soft. Get back out there!

So I think it is important. Our audience tends to want to know how do we make our emails better? Help us understand what is suffering. So to your point, what I see here is they are violating some really core design pattern language rules that are super helpful to the user, right?

Imagine coming into a brand new universe and you come to one stop sign and you\'ve got a big red octagon and boom, stop. Bright white letters on this red background. Okay, okay. That\'s what stop means. And then you get to the next one and it\'s a triangle and it has a dinosaur in it, and it\'s like, wait.

Is that, is that stop or is that beware of dinosaurs? I don\'t know. Right. And I know this sounds absurd, but like that\'s kind of what\'s happening here, right? So we\'ve got an underline, which is a universal call to, you know, a link, right? Like we\'ve understood that since Berners-Lee put the internet together and like, boom, we\'ve got underlines.

Cool. Nope, that one\'s not a link. Oh, this one is. The only indication we have is that we have this cursor pointer. Obviously this is an image and is a full width button situation here, so it\'s not bulletproof. No need for it to be this way. It\'s the modern era. We can put custom fonts and it\'s not expensive.

We like to work sometimes with Fathom and Draft. My design agency, we work with Uplers who are great email coders. And as long as you\'re like very, very specific and you know what you\'re doing like that\'s a great way to do it. And we\'re talking like this email would maybe be $150 it\'s super affordable. So anyway, the point is don\'t use these non custom fonts when you don\'t have to and get your design system to say, okay, we always will have links be this color links be this way.

Headings be this way so that there\'s no confusion. I really agree with that. I mean, it even goes down this, this one\'s a link. These are links. This is not a link. This is not a link. Super confusing, but the aesthetic. It\'s really beautiful. Like they\'ve done a great job of making an email with a limited palette.

And I think one of the core sins of most emails that we get and have to reject is this like overload of color. And it\'s done unintentionally. Like I guess you could do an overload of color and that would be interesting, but it\'s not. Oftentimes it\'s overwhelming. I agree. This is a beautiful email, but really lacking some of those user experience fundamentals that really make it very useful.

Does that make sense? Do you guys agree? 

Matt Helbig: Yeah. I think to me the difference really is the desktop and mobile layouts. I think they\'re pretty good, but in few cases they sorta have dropped the ball. I think like the single switching from the three to a single is pretty successful, but that headline \\"off gray alternatives\\" is really small on mobile.

There\'s some small little tweaks, I guess around that cause that now it looks more like a CTA. But as you said, it\'s not clickable. So I think some other brands that are really featuring these products, maybe like a Moment or something, do a little bit better of a job. Just putting them front and center like there\'s just kind of too much content maybe for me to really figure out what\'s going on.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/just-in-time-new-moment-goodies/

This is a great email from Moment with lots of new products and a great layout for rollout.

Here’s the Gif Animation

\\n View the Live Email

I guess the text is really important, but to me, I\'m really more about this individual product. And maybe talking a little bit more about like how you would use it or examples throughout this email. So I think it gets me to the site, but yeah, it\'s a little lacking for me on this one. 

Rob Hope: Cool. If I could add one bit is that, you know, in the past they\'ve got this founder\'s section at the bottom of most emails, and if you actually read the blurb there, now they\'re talking about 13 years in the game.

I think it\'s a couple. They started adding this real subtle image and other emails, which I think had them sitting next to each other on the couch and it had like the loafers that were matching and that just felt like they really cared about their products. You know, like, Jeff from Ugmonk, you know that guy, he\'s using his products and he\'s only releasing them once.

He\'s actually tried them out properly. I feel this founder\'s block is great, but also I want to know who these people are. I feel like you could just add to that to be very picky, but I love how they end off with hold onto the good, actual first names. We\'re here, we\'re experiencing our own products and you know, like when people are spending time trying out their own products, you know, they\'re going to be good.

This is going to be quality.

Matthew Smith: That\'s right. This is a great example of an email that has a lot of room to grow, but is already doing some good work. One of the things I\'ve talked about on other episodes, and I talked about a lot in my design work, is playing design golf. ⛳

Golf is this game, of course, you try and keep your scores low as possible. So if we think about how to keep the score low on differences. So we have a heading that\'s, you know, one. Now we have type two. So that\'s two points. Now we have a CTA three now we have a slightly different heading four, we have made in Italy five we have this type of line six.

We have another type of line seven. We have these, which now are eight, and then we have this heading. Now it\'s nine. Now this text 10, etc. And arguably 11 now, 12. So what if you could eliminate six of those. And really get this tighter. And to your point, Rob, like love the use of red.

What an awesome way to call out that initial CTA. And my guess is that they\'d see some improvement in the actions that they want people to take. Right? Like if you believe in your product, then you believe like this really will serve people. And the email having a design system like this really does serve them.

So great job, hardgraft. Been following you all for a long time. Really appreciate the email and go get you some awesome gear if you\'re into this kind of thing. This is definitely up my alley. Rob it\'s really fun to have you here today, and I think we\'ll end up doing a few more episodes together. What\'s going on in South Africa this Friday?

Rob Hope: Jeepers. I was just telling Matt, we\'re experiencing a little bit of load shedding and we have no power for a couple hours a day.

It\'s from some negligence and maintenance from years, even decades ago. So I work around the power schedule, so the power was off about two hours ago, so I\'m stoked this meeting was when it was.

Matthew Smith: Happy Friday to everybody. Happy Friday Matt Helbig. Really appreciate you all and don\'t forget UNSPAM. March 12th and 13th coming right up . So excited. All right. See everybody out there. 

Matt Helbig: Peace.

Rob Hope: Ciao guys.

This week we look at hims & hers emails with guest Paige Siebold.

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, email geeks? Welcome back to another Feedback Friday. This week we\'re joined by Paige, who is an email developer at hims & hers. We love these emails for the good typography, consistent design elements, and great product imagery. Big fan of these, so let\'s jump right in. 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/efHhBhoOoHY

Tell us a bit about yourself and your background. 

Paige Siebold: So my name\'s Paige. I\'ve been doing email for around five years, started in design, and always had a development background, but not that great, a simple one, and ended up doing emails. I previously worked at VRBO and HomeAway and currently work at hims & hers. 

Matt Helbig: Fantastic. Do you want to start with this first email? How did this email come about? What were some challenges on it? 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/guys-do-you-even-collagen-pro-tip-you-should/

New product. Full width on desktop, with mobile optimizations of images.

Things I Like

\\n
• Simple & clean header/footer with minimal distractions (no nav bars or legal jargon, and limited social icons)
\\n
• Live text everywhere
\\n
• Consistent design elements (left-aligned text, line height, spacing, etc.)
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• A clean design that gives the email a 3D feel (see the different flavors hovering over 2 different-colored backgrounds) and also utilizes a simple Z-design
\\n
• Limited CTAs (2) that are above the fold and at the bottom of the email
\\n
• Great, great, great product imagery
\\n
• Branding and colors are consistent throughout the email
\\n
• Interactive CTAs that change color upon hover and interactive product images that change size upon hover
\\n
• Good typography – the difference between headers and paragraphs is clear
\\n
•  
\\n

Strategy Improvements

\\n
• Instead of having social icons, maybe include a curated feed in the footer that shows photos from hims’ IG or from customers’ IGs
\\n
• Include other smart recommendations beneath the second CTA for people who may not be interested in collagen powder
\\n
•  
\\n

Design Improvements

\\n
• Include the option to View Online in footer
\\n
• Title attributes for the flavors that give more background/details about each flavor
\\n

Paige Siebold: So this, in particular, is a launch email. So this was a new product that hadn\'t been on the site yet.

This email was the first launch email I did working at hims & hers and they gave me a lot of time. There\'s a lot of small things I did with this one, but in general, it was to launch a product and give more information. I think collagen is a different type of product, not a lot of people know about it. So providing some info on that and driving to the site.

Matt Helbig: We love it. There\'s so much to see and do in this email. Honestly, it does almost feel like a website in some ways. I mean, using all these live text, hover effects. How does something like this get kicked off? Do you receive a brief or are you given a design or here are some screenshots, here is the copy that we want to include and you get started? 

Paige Siebold: It will depend on how big or what kind of emails we\'re working on, but something like this that is a launch. It\'s a bigger marketing effort obviously, cause there\'s a lot of people making assets. So this will have a brief and go to a copywriter first.

I\'ll work with the design team for assets and see mocks of the site. Our site is very clean and pretty easy to implement into emails. So a lot of the site\'s blocks are already coded out to match the site. A lot of it is, is matching what we\'re doing on the site, just implementing it into email.

Matt Helbig: How did you go about all these different, little enhancements, like you said, like this thing has custom web fonts, there are hover effects. How do you pick and choose the ones that you want to do? Or you have a checklist of things that you do in an email?

Paige Siebold: I always like using that little bounce effect and because we have three colors and we wanted to show those, I liked throwing that in every once in a while, I don\'t think it particularly helps engagement that much.

I think it\'s fun. I just added it in for the fun of it. Email Geeks, I guess, find it interesting. I don\'t know if the general user does. 

Matt Helbig: How do you explain that to someone, though? So you\'re like, okay, I\'m going to add in this effect. It\'s not going to work a lot at the time, but it\'s going to be tight when it does. Is that like what you say? 

Paige Siebold: I add it in, and no one knows. And if they see it in their tests, they\'re like, Oh cool, this is not affecting anything. I did it the other day, and my coworker noticed, and I was like, Yay! You noticed! 

Matt Helbig: Yeah. I feel the same way with adding some hover effects once in a while on CTAs. It\'s a subtle change, but this is pretty drastic, at least. But sometimes, it\'s like transparency or a color change, and people don\'t seem to notice. 

Paige Siebold: All of our CTAs, I just have set up in our CSS, so all the CTAs always match. There are two different hovers on our site and I will swap in between those two. They do that and turn into a border. So I already have that all coded. 

Matt Helbig: I think it is a great thing to sort of add into an email near the end or something like that. It is just a couple of lines of code. It doesn\'t work everywhere, but I think it is fun for people if they see it.

What other challenges did you have with this email?

Paige Siebold: The whole thing is full width. It was quite challenging to get those boxes on the right and the left to stick to the edges and keep it. I remember I spent a long time doing that, and then they switch on mobile. The images, I have them switching to look nicer.

And there are just a bunch of small things like that in this one.

Matt Helbig: So how long does something like this take you? Are you starting from scratch or using a template? 

Paige Siebold: I have the entire site coded out, like all of the modules. So I\'ll switch in and out. I remember this one, particularly, I was given a lot of time, so I messed around a lot with it. Um, and there were many different iterations, but generally, since we are a startup, things are pretty quick, and I\'ll make them in a day if we\'re doing a quick launch. But I think this one I sat and messed around with for a bit cause I had some time.

Matt Helbig: Do you get any insights on how this email performed? 

Paige Siebold: We do have some learnings, and we also technically did a test on this one. There was a completely different version that was what we call the short form, and it was testing this long-form that had a lot of information and gave you more ideas of how you could use collagen or why you want to use collagen.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/-guys-do-you-even-collagen/

Short form email for our product launch. Focused on the product packaging and emphasizing it with a GIF.

And then the other one was vague and was just like, our packaging and like check it out and some quick points on it. We got some learnings from that in general and sort of applied that to some future things. A lot of our products are very different because we have the RX side and OTC side.

So a lot of our learnings we have to repeat what we\'re doing again for other stuff. But it was interesting to see if people were interested in learning more. It depends on how complicated our product is. 

Matt Helbig: Speaking of other products, I guess. There\'s this other hers email, which is similar. What\'s the difference between working on these two brands? 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/new-collagen-powder/

Product launch for hers. Full width email.

Paige Siebold: Yeah. We recently had updated as well that they\'re almost identical and like the fonts are the same. The big difference is the colors and a bit different in the tone. Like if you read some of this copy, we have different points.

It\'s more focused on the ingredients and things like that, which matches how this the her site works. So there are those little like pointy outy things. That matches what the her site looks like. So those are like the subtle differences of that. They also use icons on the her site. Luckily the fonts are the same. The tone tends to be very similar. The packaging is usually just flipping the logo. So you can usually use similar images. 

Matt Helbig: Why isn\'t this like an all image email? I could easily see this being all image email. So why are you taking the extra time to do these design best practices? 

Paige Siebold: I\'ve just never made all image emails. So I see the points as to why some people use all image emails, but I think if you have the time and capabilities, it\'s better to do it in live text when you can. You can\'t have your fun hover effects, and there is, there are some little downfalls like this heart emoji. I think it had some, it\'s got a few spacing issues and you just kind of work around it, but it\'s easier to do that if it was an image. And in the long term, all this is already coded, and so I can reuse it. 

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I was going to say, were you able to use that first template for this one a bit? 

Paige Siebold: Yeah. I mean, this is the same email, just different colors. I did have to redo the bottom part.

Matt Helbig: So what kind of tools do you use when you build your emails?

Paige Siebold: Because I was a designer, even though I\'m a developer, I still mainly use Dreamweaver. If I\'m designing something, I\'ll just design it in code and then we\'ll use Sketch and Photoshop as well for editing photos. And then, Litmus, of course, for testing and then we send with Braze.

Matt Helbig: This one is a pretty straightforward, shorter form email, just pushing towards downloading the app. I liked these little elements on the side that at least stood out to me. 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/question-for-your-doc-weve-got-an-app-for-that/

New app launch for hims. Focused design, easy to skim, large fonts.

Paige Siebold: When I use background images, I\'m always trying to use them as like a, sometimes I use them as the main image, but I\'m trying to use them as like a thing that adds something to it and works if it\'s not there. So, in this case, the pills and the gummies are the background image.

So if they\'re gone, it still works. And it matches how we marketed it. Our designer had come up with this, like all of the styled out gummies and pills and stuff, and I think it\'s a subtle thing, but it makes it a little different for an app launch type email, which a lot of them look the same.

You got to show the app and the phone. So I think it adds a little something.

Matt Helbig: I do like these being those badges or something versus a CTA. Because I feel like download, our app is a bummer CTA. So I liked that you split them. 

Paige Siebold: Yeah, I remember that was a whole discussion as well. We had multiple different versions of this before we finally did it.

The top one was a button and the bottom where badges and then reverse. I don\'t remember why we ended up with two badges, but there was a whole discussion about what would be best cause there was a landing page. 

Matt Helbig: I think the one note I had on this was some like animation here, but I guess that isn\'t the focus of this email. So I feel having that focus be on these CTAs and why you should download the app is probably the better way to do that. 

Paige Siebold: Yeah. I think they were finishing the app as we were finishing the email. Startup life. 

Matt Helbig: Yeah. Things usually tend to happen like that. So I guess this is almost more potentially like an onboarding email or something. So do you have a whole transactional side of your emails, or is it mainly promotional? 

Paige Siebold: I would say actually the majority of our emails are transactional or account type things.

Since we are mainly a telemedicine company and it\'s asynchronous telemedicine. There are so many different notifications and emails and follow-ups that we need to constantly be sending out to a majority of different flows cause we have different medicines that require different things. It\'s not just a product.

We\'re selling a product plus a process with it, plus the follow-ups and the return visits. And I think that was like one of the things that excited me about joining hims & hers because I knew how much it would be on the backend technical side of all the different emails and all the things that need to be set up to make this sort of thing run.

Matt Helbig: So when you joined, were some of those things already in place, or did you build a lot of those? 

Paige Siebold: A lot of them were in place. We sort of switched the way we did our business as I was joining. So a lot of things needed more advanced notifications. There were a lot of things that got more advanced in our platform, therefore we needed more emails to support.

We\'re always constantly finding the ones that need to be updated that are older, that could be improved. So a lot of our tests are against old creative cause there\'s a lot. Yeah. There was some stuff set up, but we had to set up a lot of things as we\'ve created this new process.

Matt Helbig: I think we have one more to check out. A newslettery sort of email. How would you describe this one? 

Paige Siebold: A newslettery type email.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/-lets-insist-together/

Matt Helbig: I mean, it doesn\'t even almost feel like a newsletter, but you know, I think these different sections calling out articles that you have and new featured products.

I think it\'s like a smart approach to maybe just like a content dump of information. 

Paige Siebold: We have a hims version of this as well. We try and send this out monthly. This I think was the first one we sent out, so it has more of a broader, we tried news articles that have done well in the past, but we tend to focus on specific themes like skin one or whatever is relevant right now.

Then sometimes we\'ll take out this product module and focus more on just like education. Just trying to, this one is less about being transactional and more just promoting our community and as a resource for health-related or only general information about what hims & hers is about and promoting some of our other ways of interacting with brands, like social.

Matt Helbig: We love this section. I think showcasing a specific channel, even in this big block is you know what many brands should be doing when they\'re talking about pushing traffic towards one particular social channel. And I know Instagram is probably huge for you, your brand. So I think this is a great module.

Do you have a design system in place or how do you kind of keep track of all these different modules that you\'re using? 

Paige Siebold: So depending on, on the marketing side, I just sort of have like long-form, has all the module templates saved out in HTML. On the transactional side, there\'s obviously, there\'s more like robust content blocks saved into our Braze.

Whatever that things called. In Braze. I have like an InVision saved out of all the different modules. So if someone comes to us for something, we can be like, and they all have names, so you can be like, pick these things for this, and just let us know if they want specific modules. That way, it\'s all sort of set up already.

Matt Helbig: I have always been impressed with the amount of legalese that you guys have here. How is it so small? I thought it would have to be like tons of disclaimers and stuff like that. 

Paige Siebold: These four don\'t have RX in them. We do have a tiny disclaimer that\'s like two lines. If it is a prescription, but none of these emails are prescription. Yeah. But we do have a very small line of, I used to have way more lines of legal at HomeAway. Yeah. It\'s nice. 

Matt Helbig: So is there a way that you kind of get around that just by pushing people towards these different pages, you know, privacy, terms of service. 

Paige Siebold: I think the prescription one has some pretty stronger lines.

That one\'s obviously a little more specific. If we do things like show before and after, we have a line for that. But this one is just pretty straightforward, so we don\'t have to have this much on this one. 

Matt Helbig: What is one thing you thought you knew about email that you now totally understand differently about email?

Paige Siebold: I think in terms of just like email in general, especially right now, it\'s interesting to see a lot of focus on email and how important it is and how useful it is as a free resource. I think in general, just as I\'ve worked in email, seeing how much what you do and change, like small minute things, can strongly impact the business and be like a big driver.

There\'s probably a lot of things I\'ve learned. There\'s a lot of random things that I know about email code ingrained in my head forever that are just random things. 

Matt Helbig: Thank you so much for taking the time today. I loved walking through your emails. 

Paige Siebold: Yeah. Thank you for taking the time.

Matt Helbig: So we can find you online on Twitter. Anywhere else we should look?

Paige Siebold: I\'m not on Twitter.

Matt Helbig: Okay. We\'ll look at your Really Good Emails profile. 

https://reallygoodemails.com/psiebold/collections/5wJXXChNJxa5eZqOmuQL/

Paige Siebold: I\'m sure if you Google my name. I have a website, but like, that\'s very old. Don\'t look at that. 

Matt Helbig: Okay. Gotcha. Perfect. 

Paige Siebold: Awesome. Thank you for always updating Really Good Emails.

Matt Helbig: I\'ll keep at it. We\'ll keep at it. 

Knak sponsored this FF episode. Schedule a demo to build your own really good emails and get them to market in minutes.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Show how to use a website or product with simple images and text in an onboarding email. Follow a simple hierarchy, such as using one heading, then a slightly smaller heading style to talk about the product contents, and then readable, less contrasting paragraph text with more info.

2. Be careful in using too much contrasting text and colored boxes all in one email. If there’s too much going on at once, this can be difficult to read and even distracting for your audience.

3. Driving your audience toward one simple CTA can help keep a giveaway email focused. Try using one headline, one image, and one CTA.

Matthew Smith: Hey, happy Friday, Matt Helbig. It\'s another feedback Friday where we can talk about some sick little emails from Honey. How you doing?

Matt Helbig: I\'m doing great. I\'m excited to jump in and look at these Honey emails.

Matthew Smith: Thanks, Honey.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/EKXbGHs-VzY

Yeah, man, I\'m pretty interested in what they\'re doing here.

Honey is a tiny little company worth...not very much money. Not true, but they\'ve done a nice job of showing me how I can use Honey, how it can be effective, and what I can do here.

I\'m not often a fan of the zigzag approach. It can get overused because it\'s hard to do right. But they\'ve done a really nice job here.

One of the things that makes this work is they also have live text - nice job folks. They use this same heading style for one, two, three, and then a slightly smaller heading style to talk about the contents. And then there’s a nice kind of gray readable, but less contrasting text.

So, I get to go, Oh, shop like normal on my laptop > add items > price drop alert. I get to see the flow of how this works, and if I really want to read in, I can. And then these circular image types work really well to not feel too heavy and blocky. The whole focus here is to add a droplist. Right. So, if I want to start shopping for specific things, I can create a droplist so that I can get those updates. It makes a lot of sense.

I really liked the way that they move through this email and then that\'s it. Just, “create a droplist.” Okay. You want to know how that works? Cool. You think this one’s working?

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I\'ve been using Honey for a long time and I feel earlier on, they didn\'t have emails like this. There were more plain text emails. So, it was interesting to me to see them now invest more and try out more of this content and email that they have that channel to promote, rather than just this being a plain text email.

They\'re really smart with the notifications they send when you add things to your droplist. So, I think they have a pretty robust email program and it probably drives a lot of sales for them.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I think you\'re probably right. This is another good example where they use a not uncomplex layout. It has some complexity to it, but they do a nice job of keeping it pretty simple, straightforward, and using a two-column grid to make it readable and easy to digest.

So, they start out with this big header image. Notice little things like this gold that shimmers every now and then. It\'s just really fun the way that that happens. That little GIF can add a lot of detail. Same with a little image like this where this number is shifting. That\'s pretty powerful and interesting.

They do a nice job with their type of graphic hierarchy. Headings that are nice and dark. And then your subtexts, that\'s a lighter-weight font. And on other emails, they had the gray text here. So, this may be an older one or a newer one.

The only thing that happens here is I get a little overwhelmed by these big colors and imagery. I feel like I need to read each of these things. I wonder how much actual readability they get from it.

Matt Helbig: Yeah. This is a popular category of these recap report emails on our site. So, it\'s interesting to see their take on it. I think the mobile view is probably a little bit better for me, having a little bit more white space and letting those big blocky images breathe a little bit. But I think as a scannable report, I think it works pretty well.

I guess they could really decide which of these metrics are the most important because they are throwing a lot of information at you and maybe you only care about one specific thing.

I would love personalization, like how much money you saved. I think that would be really cool if they could do that for each user. I know they\'re bringing in your Honey Gold, but if this was personalized to you rather than the community of their members, I think that could be a little bit more personal for sure.

Matthew Smith: I agree. Here\'s an interesting holiday one where they just get people into “giftway.” These are tough. Giveaway type of things, you have to have a lot of legalese or people do a lot of legalese, whether you have to have it or not is per company, probably.

But I think that they did a pretty nice job of giving as much attention to a simple thing as possible and driving toward that one simple “Enter holiday giftaway” where a lot of people end up adding much more to this than they really need. I think they did a nice, nice job. Have you seen anything different done well in this kind of category?

Matt Helbig: Yeah, these contest ones are kind of hard because sometimes they feel a little spammy or it feels like they\'re just partnering with someone to get some more information about you. So maybe just that caveat of when you\'re doing some of these giveaways, or giftaway in this case, try to make them feel a little bit more natural and less salesy or scammy.

I think this one does a pretty good job of it being short and to the point, but seeing this in my inbox, I always kind of feel like, Why am I getting this? Or something like that.

Matthew Smith: Good, good. Got a couple of more here. Look at these really nice views of almost a receipt-oriented way of thinking.

I\'m really impressed with how easy to read this is on mobile and on desktop. And then there’s more of this consistent content. This is more of a newsletter with some content that they\'ve got going on. Really impressed.

Well done, Honey. I think you all are really killing it. If you want to sponsor us with some of that special money, feel free. We\'re just happy to be here.

Happy to have some good emails going on here. Thanks for being here, everybody. Happy Friday. Hope you have a great one.

Matt Helbig: See ya.

How can you communicate your message clearly while keeping your emails short and sweet? This week, we\'re diving into some onboarding and summary emails from Honey.

InVision is a digital product design platform providing intuitive tools for ideation, design, prototyping, and design management.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. If you have a delightful product, show that delight in the email design. Make it fun yet effective. Manage the primary CTA to guide the audience into what they’ll want to do next.

2. Be helpful by focusing on what your audience needs to know. What\'s the product they\'re using the most? Show them relevant information and hook them with copy written specifically for them.

3. Build sequences according to your audience. For example, the acquisition stream here serves as a tool to help prospective clients better understand the product and want to use it. The retention sequence targets existing users who haven\'t used the product in awhile and shows how they can better use the product.

BONUS: Keep the message and design relevant. Trim it down to its essentialness. Emails are landing pages delivered.

Matthew Smith: Hey, hey hey Feedback Friday, everybody. It\'s a fantastic Friday. I\'m here with Nicole Murphy, Senior Director of Lifecycle Marketing at InVision. I\'m super psyched about this one today. My friends at InVision are some of the smartest, most interesting people I know. I feel like I\'m blowing smoke up somebody\'s ass, but I swear, this is how I feel.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/Npwb5jiO1Gs

I am really good friends with Aaron Walter over there and actually, I was one of the first beta testers at the very beginning with Clark. Clark and I go way, way back when things looked terrible, but great because it\'s the beginning of everything. Right? So, I keep up with Clark now, and then, which is fun.

I\'m just super psyched to be here with you, Nicole. Thank you for joining us. Happy Friday. Can you tell us a little bit about what we\'re going to go through today? 

Nicole Murphy: Yeah, for sure. Thanks for having me. I\'m super excited as an email nerd myself, I have followed you guys for quite some time. So this is awesome.

So today I think we\'re going to focus on some email sequences we built specifically around our new Freehand templates tool. So this is something we launched recently. It happened to be timed very nicely with a lot of the world going remote and it\'s a tool that enables remote collaboration. So that\'s what we\'re going to cover today.

Happy to touch on some of the learnings where we\'re gathering from these sequences, design, strategy, all that good stuff. 

Matthew Smith: How the heck are we going to cover all his emails in a short amount of time? I swear everybody we\'re going to do it. We\'re going to make it happen. So instead of deep diving, we\'ve heard from you, we\'re going to spend a brief amount of time, stay on task and make sure that we get you all high-level insights into the things that InVision has learned along the way.

Nicole, the first question I\'ve got for you is how did you, I mean, there is a serious sequencing, a thought pattern, a methodology to this whole sequence.

I know we were looking at two setups here. I would love to know what is the first part that we\'re going to look at. What is the second? And give me a brief description of the team that put these together and how that came together. 

Nicole Murphy: Yeah. So I think the easiest way to think of the two streams we\'ve got built out here is part one is an acquisition stream.

So we had some paid ads out in the market using Freehand templates to acquire new InVision users and since they\'re coming through this new tool, we wanted to put them down as a special nurture track of emails to help them better understand the product, use it more, et cetera. So that\'s the acquisition nurture sequence. 

Part two of the emails we\'ll look at today is more of a retention play. So we took a similar approach, but it\'s more so targeted at our existing users who haven\'t used Freehand in a while. And so Freehand is a tool we\'ve had for quite some time. It\'s just the templates piece of it that was the new addition, which is what these emails are about. 

So we targeted people who haven\'t used Freehand and over 30 days and put them through a nurture track to not only announce the new template functionality but to also just help them better and how they can better use a Freehand, especially given the state of the nation today. 

I would say in terms of the teams who put them together, my team works closely with the product marketing team who is bringing this new feature to market to come up with the overall strategy of these two different streams.

Once we kind of align on that, we work with really closely with our copywriters, our design team, our marketing developers who build all these email templates, and whatnot for us to get all the assets in order. And then our marketing operations team takes all of that from us and builds these emails for us. Where we\'re currently using HubSpot, builds them all for us, and gets them out into our subscriber\'s hands.

Matthew Smith: Smart. About how long did that process take for this set?

Nicole Murphy: There are quite a few emails in these, so each track. So like I said, there\'s the acquisition and retention track. Each track has subtracts based on your persona. So whether you\'re a developer or a designer, you\'re kind of talked to differently based on how you would use Freehand. So there are about 20 total emails.

So it took, I would say probably close to like a month or so after we came up with the strategy to produce all of these things, get them tested, QA, and out into the world. 

Matthew Smith: So before we get into the strategy around this, one of the things that I\'m getting super passionate about, both on the Really Good Emails side of my life, and also on the Fathom & Draft side of my life, where we are now getting dialed in on building email design systems for clients.

Tell me a little bit about how email design systems have made your life here with designing something as diverse as this set of content with different visuals and different communication. Did that amplify and speed up your experience or, you know, is that how you all work? 

Nicole Murphy: I have our design system in place, but I think the biggest piece is the design that went into these specific emails was also part of a new branding that we\'re rolling out. Because Freehand is such a delightful product to use. We wanted to make sure that that was reflected in the design. So that\'s why you\'ll see throughout some of these, like, Some little emojis or like hearts and stuff because whiteboarding is fun to do, whether you\'re in an office or not.

So that\'s kind of where the design came from on that front, but we also wanted to make sure we were making it very effective as well in terms of like, okay, that\'s all fun, but here\'s how you use it. Here are all the templates. And here\'s how you apply it in your day to day life. That\'s kind of where all that came about.

I think the templates themselves, like how our emails are built, they\'re very modular focused. So we know exactly what templates we can work within. So whether it\'s like two columns or a single column, plain texts versus not plain text, et cetera, our developers have done a great job on building these templates in such a way that it\'s really easy to plug in different content and different images and GIFs and whatnot.

So, yeah. That\'s kind of how we run it at InVision. 

Matthew Smith: Alright. I like it. That\'s tight. I\'ll drive, but you tell me where to go, and let\'s make a quick walkthrough and give me a sense here on this acquisition track. Tell me what\'s happening for the user, what you\'re trying to accomplish.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/get-started-fast-with-a-freehand-template/

Nicole Murphy: The acquisition track like I said, there would be ads somewhere on Facebook, LinkedIn, wherever that might be promoting Freehand. And like I said, there are two different tracks. So we\'re speaking to our developers as well as our designers. This specific track we\'re looking at here is the developer track. So you can imagine they came through some sort of ad somewhere that was speaking specifically to the templates that we\'ve built in Freehand that are used by developers.

We\'re hooking them in that way, using copy in our ads, and our emails that are very specific to that role and dropping them in such a way. So it\'s about a five touch email sequence that spans over four to five weeks. The idea here is to welcome them into Freehand, teach them how to use it.

Also provide other pieces of content and motivation, inspiration, et cetera on how other people are using it. But you can see here in this first email, we\'re just trying to show them all of the different templates that might be most relevant to them. We\'ve got a handful, these are just four, and these are the four that are most used by our developers.

Matthew Smith: Fantastic. So very developer-specific. And then when does this next email come in?

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/run-a-retrospective-with-freehand/

Nicole Murphy: I think about four or five days later. We decided to take an email and zoom in specifically on the most popular template used by developers, which is the retrospective. I\'ve noticed just from my experience is that sometimes too much in an email things get lost.

And so it\'s great to show them the breadth of what we have to offer, but it\'s also super helpful to just zero in on like what they need to know kind of thing and drive them straight to the thing that we\'ve seen our developers use the most. 

Matthew Smith: Fantastic. And tell me about the third. 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/top-3-ways-your-team-can-use-freehand/

Nicole Murphy: This one is more of just like tips and tricks and different ways you could use Freehand.

So not necessarily template specific, but we\'ve got other tools and features within Freehand, such as sticky notes and like cool little arrows and stuff and ways that you can kind of collaborate cross-functionally. Even if you\'re a developer, you\'re working with many other roles. So the point of this email was templates aside, here are some tips and tricks on how you can better use Freehand as a tool itself.

Matthew Smith: The illustrations and the animations are, you know, it\'s that classic a picture is worth a thousand words, right? Like in this case, it\'s fascinating. The email leads with this imagery. And then I read the content to follow up and see what else. Oh, that\'s architecture diagrams. Oh, that\'s story maps. Oh, look, sticky notes. Yeah. I saw it. Now tell me more about it. 

I\'m having a hard time. I\'m not clicking through during this video cause I\'m like, Oh, damn. I want to get into this. The use of GIFs is extremely helpful here. What are you all learning about using a GIF like this? 

Something that\'s happening here that I like, you\'re using a stable image with changing labels as a way of illustrating what\'s possible in the actions of the users, how do you land there? 

Nicole Murphy: With this specific asset, what we wanted to communicate was with Freehand being a remote collaboration tool, the best part about Freehand is you guys can all go in you can sketch, you can draw, you can brainstorm together.

That\'s really what we wanted to show here. So that\'s why we\'ve got the little personas and the little titles of people all moving around and contributing to the same document. And I think that Freehand is great for that\'s where all the ideas form, right? So you can wireframe out a bunch of different screens that you\'re working on, et cetera.

But we want to just also show that it might start in Freehand, but InVision is the tool that will help you take it from this wireframe to this like fully designed screen that you\'re seeing there as well. So we are just trying to show the transformation. 

Matthew Smith: Well, it\'s working. It\'s great. How about this fourth one? What\'s happening here?

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/beyond-freehand-turn-your-ideas-into-customer-loved-products/

Nicole Murphy: As a reminder so these people are new users to InVision. They just came through the ads. They may not have heard of InVision before, but they\'re using this Freehand thing. We didn\'t want them to think that that\'s all we had to offer. And so you\'ll see here that this is a bit of a cross-sell, cross-promotion tool to tie it all together.

So we say, okay, You\'ve used Freehand to wireframe your screens or whatever. Did you know that we also have Inspect, which can help you bring your design straight to code? Did you know, we also have a design system manager to help you manage all of these assets, et cetera. So it\'s just piecing together all that InVision has to offer.

Matthew Smith: Now this one\'s got me super intrigued. What is happening here? This is fantastic. 

Nicole Murphy: Again, these are new people. They are certain people that we acquire through our ads that based on their titles or what company they\'re from, et cetera, we know that they\'re likely a better fit for our enterprise product and our freemium self-serve product.

And so we siphon those people off and target them with a very like personalized, plain text email. That\'s not all marketing. And just kind of seems as if it\'s coming from a person which I mean, she is receiving the replies, but just to stand out and start to speak to the benefits of InVison Enterprise and all that it has to offer in addition to Freehand.

And so the goal with this email, like I said, it only goes to people who we believe are qualified for Enterprise, but the goal is to just get them to raise their hand and show some interest in learning more about our Enterprise product. 

Matthew Smith: And how did you qualify those people? 

Nicole Murphy: Again, it\'s based on either where they came from. So what channels we\'re getting them from, what type of title data we\'re able to get from them, what company they\'re from, how many employees, like those kinds of questions that we ask people.

Matthew Smith: Love it. Alright. I think we\'re jumping over into the next track. So now this is not an acquisition track anymore, but instead, I\'ve used Freehand. This would probably be for me, I\'ve used it in the past, before it got this like super rocket behind it and like, now it\'s amazing. What\'s happening here? What are you trying to do?

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/new-for-freehand-templates-for-brainstorms-wireframes-and-more/

Nicole Murphy: The point of this nurture sequence again you\'re right it\'s going to existing customers we already have. So either you\'ve used Freehand, but it\'s been a while since you\'ve last used it, or maybe you came through our prototyping tool or you\'re an Inspect user, and you\'ve never even seen Freehand before. We\'re talking to those people. And the ultimate objective of this nurture sequence is to get them back in and using Freehand.

You\'ll notice a lot of similarities here. I think the difference here is we\'re focusing on the design track. So you\'ll notice we\'re focusing in on the template specific to what a designer might use Freehand for. So that\'s just how we\'re personalizing our message a bit more. 

Matthew Smith: Is that because traditionally the primary user for people who\'ve known InVision the longest are designers?

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/build-wireframes-with-freehand/

Nicole Murphy: So we started with designers obviously, but since then we\'ve become more of a, like a design collaboration tool. So we\'re often now speaking to developers because the designers are handing off their designs to developers to use our Inspect tool, to convert into code. So developers are a big persona for us, as well as just collaborators.

So whether you\'re a stakeholder or some sort of marketer, and you\'re just reviewing these designs, we\'ve got a lot of tools for you to pop in and leave comments and feedback in it and whatnot. So those are kind of the key personas we\'re talking to when we\'re thinking about our messaging. 

So you\'ll see like a similar, a similar pattern here. Yeah. Start with broad, like here are all of the different templates you might be interested in. Let\'s focus on the wireframing one, which of course is the most relevant for our design audience. 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/learn-how-to-work-remote-with-freehand/

And then if you go to the next email, So one thing we did a little bit differently here is we used content that we have about other customers of ours that are using Freehand as a bit of a like inspirational motivational play, to show how other customers are seeing success with Freehand.

Matthew Smith: Social proof.

Nicole Murphy: Exactly. So it\'s a variety of blog posts, customer stories, as well as a webinar that we did recently with Home Depot about how they used Freehand amidst this kind of transition to more remote work. The learning there is just like, we\'ve noticed that at InVision, but also at past companies I\'ve worked at, is different types of content, different types of assets resonate with different people, right?

Like everyone\'s learning a different way. So some might be interested in a webinar. Some might never, ever attend a webinar in their entire life. So good to in your emails include different types of content to just increase your chances of somebody engaging with it. 

Matthew Smith: Instead of just having one of these blurbs, having four allows for a broader range. How will you be testing that? So for instance, do you have specific click events tied to watch how people are hitting specific parts of the email so that you can adjust even within the sequence? 

Nicole Murphy: Yep. So we can look at, obviously like even within just this email, we can see which piece of content is resonating the most. And so that might tell us for like a future iteration or optimization, we might give that piece of content a little bit more real estate, or maybe we move it up in the sequence or it gets a standalone piece or something like that.

So those are signals that we\'re looking at to see what\'s landing and what\'s not.

Matthew Smith: Solid. Then we\'ve got two more here. What\'s happening in these? 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/kick-off-team-brainstorms-with-freehand/

Nicole Murphy: Yep. This was just because like you said earlier, designers are our core users, a lot of our templates are really helpful for them.

So what we decided to do was just do another kind of zoomed-in, look at another template to encourage them to explore a different one. 

Matthew Smith: And finally this one. 

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/3-ways-teams-like-yours-use-freehand/

Nicole Murphy: So again, this is kind of similar. It\'s just like tips and tricks on. So we\'ve talked about all the templates, but here are ways that you can collaborate with your team and use Freehand in a variety of different ways. 

Matthew Smith: Similar to one of the first ones in the developer track.

Nicole Murphy: Exactly. And so what we\'re trying to show is like, here are the hardcoded tools and features you can use, but here are the benefits you\'ll get. And here are some things that you might be doing the old school way or say a lot more of us were back in the office like these might be things that you\'re doing in less efficient ways, but did you know that you can get the same benefit by doing these through our tool Freehand?

Matthew Smith: I\'ve been thinking about this concept and we\'ll kind of finish up with this. I\'ve been reading a book called \\"Made to Stick\\", which is an old book by the Heath brothers that a lot of people have read before me, but the memo did not get to me. So I\'m reading it now and it\'s freaking amazing and it\'s just so helpful.

I love their books. Another one is, \\"Decisive\\" by them and I enjoy how accessible the writing is and the concepts. But as a designer, I find this helpful because what I\'m learning is like Fathom & Draft we\'re launching this new site, for our email design system work.

And in this process of designing this landing page, my team and I got together and started to think about how to create the most succinct, impactful, focused landing page that just says what you need to say as quickly as possible. It dawned on me somewhere in the pipeline of my brain emails, so many are these landing pages delivered. 

Just in general, I\'m very interested in this idea that email is relationship delivered. But also this other phrase is like landing pages delivered, came to my mind because it was like, wait a second one of the things that I find in so many emails is people have not taken the time to trim it down to its essential ness.

One of the things that I\'m getting in these emails is, Hey, here\'s exactly what you\'re going to get in this email. Here we will even show you exactly what you\'re going to get in this email. Now we\'re going to give you a very quick, very succinct description of what that means and a very clear ultimate boom, Try Freehand.

Get out the way there\'s no like confusion about CTAs. Very clear list of CTAs in case some of this additional information is something that you are more interested in. We go from big ideas to specificity, and then again, we go for that CTA and it\'s done. That\'s it. That\'s the simplicity. So what do you think about that concept of these being like landing pages?

Nicole Murphy: I think that\'s exactly what they are. I think sometimes the one thing you need to be mindful of is just making sure, and it\'s the same thing with landing pages, but you want to make sure they just don\'t go on and on and forever. So you want to get in and get out. Get your message across as quickly as possible.

I think the one thing I want to call out here, and I think at some point I saw a version of this email during our feedback and approval process that where you see the secondary pieces of content and assets within the email and then the secondary CTA is there. I think one version I saw was it didn\'t have CTAs, like individual secondary CTAs.

It was kind of just like the headline, the copy, and an image. My feedback to the team is like, if we\'re going to bubble up some of this additional stuff, like make it clear on like what we want them to do. If that\'s the thing that they\'re going to be taking an action on, where are we sending them?

What is that action that they should be expected to do next? And so I think the combination of really clear headlines, short succinct copy, and a really clear CTA is important. But to your point, managing your primary CTA versus your secondary CTA. So it\'s really clear on like what that user wants to do next. 

Matthew Smith: So cool. I like to play something called design golf, and I\'ve mentioned on other Feedback Friday episodes, it\'s this quality of trying to get down to the essentialness of what you need to communicate your vision. So one of the things that\'s happening powerfully here is there are so few different like type styles and the number of colors being used, obviously, outside of images, I think has maybe four.

That\'s incredible. Right? So these emails are so restful to read that I\'m able to focus on the content. So many other emails are distracting and keep me from focusing on the content. If something\'s not doing a job, get rid of it. There could be lines dividing all of this content, but they\'re not needed instead just use a little bit of white space. And it does the job, right? 

If you want to understand how to use typography and your designs, go look at all the InVision emails that have ever been submitted to Really Good Emails or that I\'ve put up there. That typography is the center of all design and this team knocks it out of the park.

I\'m just so thankful for everybody here. I hope everybody\'s surviving out there in pandemic land. We love you. What a great community we all have. You have my compassion and my love. Nicole, please tell everybody at InVision hello for us. Yeah, just thank you for your time. 

Nicole Murphy: Thank you for having me. This is fun.

Matthew Smith: Fantastic. Oh, what are you going to do this weekend? It\'s Friday. 

Nicole Murphy: I\'m not doing a lot because the next three weekends in a row, I\'ve got camping and like just, you know, a bunch of stuff, planned. Cottage going and all that good stuff. So just taking it easy. 

Matthew Smith: Hell yeah. I liked the sound of that. Same here. I\'m going to take it easy. Try and catch up on some Zzz\'s. I got a new puppy and so I am losing some sleep. 

Nicole Murphy: I can imagine I\'ve been there. 

Matthew Smith: Alright. Have a great weekend, everybody. Thanks for a good Feedback. Friday. Talk soon.

Knak sponsored this FF episode. Schedule a demo to build your own really good emails and get them to market in minutes.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. If you’re going to include navigation options, consider moving the nav lower in the email, like the footer, so it’s useful, mobile-optimized, and doesn’t distract from the main product shot.

2. Explain unique concepts like shipping ice cream. Tell this story by including visuals and a brief explainer in the email.

3. Centered text works here because the text is large and simple. There aren’t too many lines of text and the leading is at a reasonable place.

Matthew Smith:  Hey, happy Friday, Matt Helbig. It\'s Feedback Friday, where we\'re going to talk about some Jeni\'s ice cream.

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, email geeks, another Valentine\'s day, another pint of ice cream. That\'s my date.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/9wf6jcJ1MBw

Matthew Smith: I\'m a sucker for Jeni\'s. Good ice cream, especially after I quit drinking, ice creams where it\'s at, man. Jeni\'s does a really neat job. I signed up recently when I got up ice cream for friends as a holiday gift that I could send, which is weird that you can do that in 2021. I did that, and I started getting these emails, and I thought, man, they\'re pretty nice.

One of the things I love about them is there\'s nice, big text, real easy to read. And as I often talk about, they drive towards simplicity and a really simple way of thinking. These are landing pages for ice cream.

Now, I don\'t know what the hell is going on with everything, bagel, flavor, ice cream. That is some crazy shit as far as I\'m concerned, but they\'re doing a good job trying to sell this. Smash hit. So weird, it must be delicious. This is an excellent example of just really driving in with something straightforward, get into the product. It\'s beautiful product photography. Last chance that helps me know, Hey, this is limited time, get in here and get this order now and get done.

No big, long emails that are complicating things or adding complexity, same kind of stuff here. Just a fun GIF. On-brand messaging drive through to get people to order some ice cream.

Another version of this, everything bagel, one of the things you can switch back and forth here, you can see, I like that they can change up their style slightly with this background shift that allows for some additional content.

Suppose they had kept all of that white. It would not be enough change amid the content shift, but I like that. Do you think that\'s working? 

Matt Helbig: Yeah. I mean, I think it works. I would love to design an email for ice cream. That sounds pretty great. Like that sounds like a fun, exciting challenge. But to your point, I don\'t think they need to like sell it too much. I think they can put a product as the main focus of these emails and do pretty well.

To me, it is still kind of weird that you can go online and order a pint of ice cream. That seems kind of funny to me, for some reason. I don\'t know what Jeni\'s can do to improve. It\'s like diminishing returns on how much time they spend on some of this stuff. I think it just gets people excited about the product.

I know they\'d probably going on social media or something and looking up on Instagram and seeing people trying these wild and crazy flavors. Maybe they could bring some of that social aspect into these emails to make it more feel like a community thing, like sharing different things. But overall, I think pretty straightforward, and the branding is consistent with their website, and they\'re doing some exciting stuff here.

Matthew Smith: One thing that I think they could do would be to explain in these emails in, these could be forwarded to other people pretty easily. What do you mean shipping, ice cream, some of those things that seem nonsensical, and if you signed up for Jeni\'s newsletter, somewhere along the line, getting a picture of, Oh, they ship it in this container with frozen blocks and so on.

And figuring out how that works so they could explain some things like that. I think they could also tell a little bit about the story or have some jump-offs at the bottom of the email that tells the story. Jeni\'s has kind of a neat story.

Matt Helbig: I\'ve met Jeni.

Matthew Smith: Have you? That\'s fantastic. You know, stuff like that. These I\'ve heard different people. I suggest that these can do well or poorly. I would say that is missing out here because these are image-based, then in mobile, you have to drop one to keep them readable. So at least they did that where they kept them readable.

They have to drop scoop shops here in this case. If they were texts, they could have modified it a little differently. Anything else that you would change or things that you would add for brands like this?

Matt Helbig: For your navigation part, I think I like brands that put some of that stuff lower in the email, like in the footer, having a more mobile-optimized email, especially here on mobile.

Like you\'re repeating the snippet, you have your view in the browser. Some of those nav links can be useful, but if you don\'t see many clicks on them, maybe that\'s some information you can put lower in the email if you want to focus that message have that. It doesn\'t distract anything from this main product shot and hero copy.

Matthew Smith: Another thing, the, in terms of sending stuff to the bottom or hiding them is I\'m pretty sure that this would be a pre-header type of text that they\'re putting up there. And there are many techniques to be able to hide something like that if it\'s not necessary. So right now, especially on mobile, this feels crowded.

If you\'re on mobile, this is the main thing, like I want to see that ice cream first thing and Jeni\'s logo. Some of this information, there are techniques to hide this pre-header. I think the view in the browser link is still important for accessibility in some of those things. It\'s just something to think about.

So maybe rearranging some of that information. I think Jeni\'s does a great job of something important to me, which is to get simple. Keep that text nice and clear. Often I make a note with people that centered text is not very readable in this case. It works because it\'s so large and simple, and that\'s what makes it work.

It barely works. It\'s not too many lines. It\'s nice and big with lots of letting in between. So that\'s what makes it work. But overall, just straightforward, very focused emails. Well done, Jeni\'s. I\'m hungry. How about you?

Matt Helbig: I know. We\'ll have to get an everything bagel pint of ice cream and split it or something.

Matthew Smith: Nice, man. All right, have a fantastic Friday. Email geeks, we\'ll see you next time.

Matt Helbig: Peace.

How do you explain a product to your audience like Everything Bagel ice cream that you can ship to friends? This week, we\'re scooping up some fun product emails from Jeni\'s Splendid Ice Cream.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Collaborate with online communities, like influencers and content creators, to bring messages outside of social and into email, websites, and even TV.

2. Wondering what flavor or product you should lead into your email with? Ask your audience. Getting feedback from your audience gives you honest input from the people using your products.

3. Email is a personal, one-to-one connection. Partnering with influencers to make that connection can help you curate your email content with fewer ads than social media.

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, Email Geeks. Welcome back to another episode of Feedback Friday. This week, we have a fantastic guest. Aana from Popular Pays. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself and what Popular Pays is?

Aana Leech: My name is Aana. I am the VP of marketing and customers at Popular Pays. For those of you that don\'t know us, Popular Pays is a platform that connects brands with content creators and influencers to produce content for social and beyond. So that is why we are here today—talking about the beyond part and some of the social probably.

Matt Helbig: One of your clients is Jimmy John\'s, correct? Is that a brand that you guys have worked with?

Aana Leech: Yes, Jimmy John\'s was one of the clients that we partnered with. It\'s a little bit in the past, but very recent.

Matt Helbig: I have some emails featuring some influencer content. So let\'s walk through a few.

Aana Leech: That would be lovely. I would be happy to comment on them however I can.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/hJRj16KH0jk

Feedback Friday fans - If you sign up for a Popular Pays demo, you\'ll be eligible for a starter offer from Popular Pays through the end of February.

Matt Helbig: I like Jimmy John\'s as a brand. I feel they have a fascinating, fun, cool voice. I think their emails are pretty simple, straight to the point, with good product photography. They\'re coded a little strange, so I don\'t think the mobile view is all that great. But they have a pretty simple design here.

Aana Leech: I agree. Jimmy John\'s has had this focus on their food and on the speed that\'s the value that they drive. I think we\'re all very familiar with that moment when we\'re like, wait a second, I want Jimmy John\'s, and you know exactly what you\'re going to get. I think they like to keep it simple and direct, knowing what their core value is.

Matt Helbig: I think they do an excellent job of putting some of this photography right in front of people and just keeping it pretty simple focused on that primary CTA that they want you to place your first order.

As a welcome email, this is pretty effective. If I was super new to their product, maybe some additional information about how to order and things like that, but I think that information is available on their website. To sign up, you have to go on the website. So I think this is a pretty simple welcome.

They don\'t give you any discount for your first order, so maybe that could also be an opportunity. I think they are letting you know that their product exists, and having some of these quick links at the footer, keeping it pretty simple, is pretty smart.

Aana Leech: It would be interesting too, like how at the bottom there, if they\'re able to show some of their other partners where you can get delivery from. Everybody\'s ordering with all of these different apps. So it might also just be an easy thing to introduce as to where you can find them.

Matt Helbig: They keep it pretty simple. Speaking of social, if this is the first time you\'re talking to someone, it might be useful to share where you want them to follow along if you have that opportunity. I think many brands have specifically been pushing Instagram, so having a couple of different images down here, letting people know where to follow. I think these are pretty nice, but if you can highlight a single channel.

If you\'re going to list all these icons, maybe you never tweet, or you tweet once a month. If all your content is on Instagram, try to focus on that single channel you want people to follow and communicate on. If this is your first time talking to a customer, potentially you want to highlight where you\'re the most active.

Aana Leech:  That\'s such a great point. I think we\'ve been trained a little bit to include all of those icons everywhere because you\'re like, well, of course, I\'m on every single channel. I think that\'s a bit of a fallacy with social because you don\'t have to be everywhere.

I think it\'s great to have a presence somewhere, but you made such a good point. If you can kind of drive, like what\'s your primary channel, where\'s the place where you\'re communicating with your consumers? I think that is so important, especially right now.

Matt Helbig: I haven\'t seen a lot of TikTok icons here.

Aana Leech: I know! Jimmy John\'s is the perfect brand for TikTok.

Matt Helbig:  Maybe their content isn\'t ready yet. It\'d be interesting to see if that icon starts popping up a little bit more as more people drive towards that.

Here\'s another one, a pretty simple, eye-catching GIF. Scrolling down, we see a potential popular pays piece of content.

Aana Leech: Yeah. This falls into more of that kind of influencer generated user-generated content realm, which is obviously and, maybe I\'m biased. I love the authenticity, the relate-ability of this type of content showing up in my email as well as on my social feeds.

Matt Helbig: Yeah. I like it. It has a nice little subtle animation of the GIF highlighting the neon, which is cool to see.

Aana Leech: Oh yeah. I didn\'t even see that. Very subtle.

Matt Helbig: They combine a lot of different GIFs in this one. I think it works, but it could be a little overkill potentially, but with an image like this, I think it\'s a bit newer to see something like this, rather than just focusing on the graphics and the app.

So why do you think something like this maybe helps build a customer brand? I do like to see something like this in an email as well.

Aana Leech: Yeah, I\'m so glad to hear it. I think that creativity and creative are essential to every brand, and we\'re moving into this new phase. We used to have a Mad Men era where somebody in this building was making advertising that was supposed to appeal to us. Great. We passed that. Then brands were creating content with people. Now people are creating content for brands and in collaboration with brands. I think that\'s just such a nice kind of evolution of what advertising is.

I love to see that type of content moving outside of the realm of just social and showing up in an email and showing up on our TV commercials, just expanding where we can see that.

Matt Helbig: This addition makes the email feel a little bit more authentic to me. Why would a brand potentially hire an influencer to create content for them rather than trying to shoot some of this stuff themselves?

Aana Leech: You have someone who is probably a user already. They\'re able to give a very different perspective on your brand that might relate to more people. I think that that\'s something that we sometimes forget as marketers that we\'ve been working with these brands over and over and over, and we forget some of that like special sauce that they have.

I think that it\'s great to be able to hand the keys over to someone else and see through their eyes.

Matt Helbig: My picture of me using a sandwich is probably not very good here in this email.

Aana Leech: I am afraid I have to disagree.

Matt Helbig:  I like this very polished image. I think it reflects this brand and adds a little piece of this email that makes it feel human and highlights the product subtly. These are very single-use emails. They don\'t try to pack too much information. We try to recommend that there\'s only one thing that your email can do well. If you start adding multiple CTAs and different options and text, it can dilute the main message. I think they\'re pretty straightforward, with \\"free sandwich\\" as the primary CTA.

Aana Leech: There it is. And it\'s looking good.

Matt Helbig:  Plugging your app is excellent. I know they have some links down here in the footer, but I think some people only do it in the welcome email. You can be smart and see if that email address might have recently been signed into the app. If you know that someone hasn\'t downloaded the app yet, you should be pushing for those downloads and letting them know that they can track their rewards through your loyalty system.

This is another bold headline here. I think another excellent reflection of their brand.

Aana Leech:  I love it. I think that it\'s simple. I love the boldness of their headline. I think this is like very Jimmy John\'s. The font. That kind of your face-ness.

Matt Helbig:  I love the simple message, but it seems like they should capitalize on this national pickle day. Maybe include a hashtag or if they have any user-generated content to pull in some Instagram posts. It would be cool if they could bring in some of that multi-channel marketing into this message.

Aana Leech: Highlight the crossover.

Matt Helbig: How do you see brands do that? Are there any brands that you think do that well where they\'re able to feature something in an email but also do it on Instagram? How do you keep that message consistent across all those channels?

Aana Leech: Unfortunately, we don\'t see a ton of what our clients do outside of social, which is unfortunate because I think that there is a huge opportunity to think more holistically around how you can use your influencers, how you can use your online communities to bring that outside of social and into an email, into TV, into your website.

We put ourselves into silos a little bit and thinking through that, especially with influencers. I think there\'s such an opportunity to bring them over and integrate them into these other channels.

Matt Helbig: I\'m always very interested in how brands can test certain content pieces, either on social first or on email first. It would be best to show your top engaged posts within email because you know that content works well. Or vice versa with email.

It\'s always a kind of a shame when brands don\'t use those channels as effectively as they could. If you\'re already sending emails, why not include some tests and then use some of that information in other media from social to direct mail if you know those pieces of content are resonating with your audience.

Aana Leech: Maybe it\'s just because there are these labor divisions in some ways, but we haven\'t heard too much from our customers. They\'re exclusively so focused on social, but there\'s such an opportunity to move over.

Matt Helbig: I think some people will see a single post on Instagram, really blow up, and then they\'ll try to convert that piece of content into a unique email and then send that out as part of a sequence. So if they know that this piece of content is huge on their Instagram, maybe they\'ll build a whole email around that piece of content and try to provide some more content like that.

So if your audience is resonating with DIY crafts, well, maybe that\'s like a sequence within your email that you want to put in recipes into an actual email and send them to a list.

Aana Leech: Yeah. Almost like if you\'re leaving like breadcrumbs in different places, you can see how all of these things connect. Cause you\'re even talking about building recipes, and you can convert that over into Pinterest or other places. There are just so many ways to connect all of the different things you are doing and using this testing and learning mindset where if this is working over here, okay, well, how do I take those same elements and quickly repurpose them into an email?

I think influencers and content creators are a great source to efficiently source that content and do a lot of that testing and learning so that you can deploy them into different places and use them in other channels without taking too much of your budget and spending that on testing.

Matt Helbig: How can you work with influencers if you have a smaller audience or maybe not the most significant budget?

Aana Leech:  Most of our clients don\'t have the most significant budgets in the world. We\'re servicing customers like Walmart that are large and have these big budgets, but we also work with emerging brands. So we work with customers like Do Only Good, Larry\'s Children\'s Hospital, Lesser Evil, who are just getting started. They\'re just dipping their toes into these areas.

One of our subscription customers uses influencers for content. So they post those organically, and then they take that content, and they boost it to see how efficient of a CPA they can get. Then they use that as their benchmark for all of their other marketing efforts. So it\'s kind of like, okay, well, this is the performance that we know we can get, and we could source this content efficiently. How else can we maximize it?

Matt Helbig: It\'s always interesting when a brand has a specific question they\'re trying to ask or a new product they\'re trying to promote and working with influencers or third parties and seeing how that product gets used in new and different ways. It can inform you on how to market in the future. Having a clear goal in mind, too, with that influencer posts on what kind of, other than just sales, maybe if there is some secondary piece driving towards understanding a little bit more or getting feedback.

Aana Leech: We\'ve had a couple of customers who are getting ready to do product launches. They wanted to know which one of the flavors they should lead with. So they used influencers to get feedback, to be able to decide. Those are just really easy, efficient ways to get user feedback. Like these are people that are using your products. It\'s just a different way I think of thinking of using this channel.

Matt Helbig:  How we see the future of email is very personal and one-to-one. I feel like social does a pretty good job of feeling personal sometimes. In the same way that people ask questions on social, I feel like email is sometimes you\'re just speaking to someone and promoting something when it should be that same sort of conversation as social is where you\'re asking different questions. Why not put a survey or a poll within an email and have people even reply to you with recommendations or other things like that. It should be a dialogue, which I think social sometimes understands a little bit better than email.

Aana Leech:  It\'s funny and a little bit ironic because I gave up social media for three or four months, a couple of months back. I was just like, I\'m done. I need to get out of here. I started playing around in substack and some other email focused channels, and I agree with you. There\'s such an opportunity as email, as an emerging channel to make that more personal one-to-one connection.

 Also, I think using influencers to make that connection and going directly to the source. So I\'m not scrolling through my feed. You can equate an email inbox to a feed, but how do you curate that a lot more and make sure that that is becoming a personal place for your consumers or even just for people.

Matt Helbig: There are also fewer ads usually within an email sometimes. Not to hate on social, but it\'s like, what would you rather have a follow or like an email sign up? So it\'s balancing that, and I guess seeing where people are and how to communicate with them.

This last one, pretty simple email, nothing too crazy, but they add a lot more information.

Aana Leech: I think you bring up an excellent point that you\'ve made it across all of the other emails as well, like making it feel a little bit more personal, a little bit less stock, I think is something that for this one, in particular, would maybe work better for me. I love having that personal element.

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I agree. I feel like email can sometimes do that a little bit better than social. They have potentially a lot of information about you that they can try to serve you with dynamic content. Maybe they captured your first name. I know that captured birthday at signup so they can send you a birthday message. Perhaps they know what\'s your favorite order is. Maybe this could be your favorite order for \\"your name.\\" They know where you are potentially based on your zip code or if you made a previous order. So they could pull in some more information about that.

Aana Leech: This is so random, but in my Chase app, I love the fact that when I open it, when I\'m in Chicago, I see a picture of the six oh six on the signup. When I open it, when I\'m in Cincinnati, I see a picture of somewhere in Cincinnati. If you could make this image of the store a little more personal and kind of relevant to where that person is, I think that\'s a great application.

Matt Helbig: I love when email can try to beat social at it its own game. It\'s not like you\'re creating one post for everyone with email. You really can make a post for each person with dynamic content and things like that.

Aana Leech: That\'s such an exciting challenge to hear you say that; how can email beat social at its own game? I think that\'s so cool.

Matt Helbig: Thanks so much for jumping on. I enjoyed talking with you. Where can we find you online? I know you gave up social media, it sounds like.

Aana Leech: I\'m back on the socials. So you can find me on Twitter and Instagram. I also have a substance that I started to dabble in building my email list.

Matt Helbig: Thanks again for taking the time, and have a great rest of your week.

Aana Leech: Thank you. You too, Matt.

Matt Helbig: See you.

How can you partner with influencers to bring messaging outside of social and into email? This week, we dive into some influencer-inspired emails, the bread and butter of Jimmy John’s, with Aana Leech from Popular Pays.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Help your audience focus on a specific goal per email. With e-commerce, keep the design focused and simple with the combination of design colors and product photography.

2. Invite your customers to make a buying decision on a landing page rather than trying to immediately convert them in an email. Bring in personalized, dynamic content to speak directly to your audience.

3. If you’re sending an all-image email, think about accessibility. Make sure text is easy to read on mobile, include alt-text, and be consistent.

Matthew Smith: Happy Feedback Friday, everybody. It\'s another good day to be here with Matt Helbig. How are you? 

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, email geeks? Welcome back to another Feedback Friday with Matthew Smith. 

Matthew Smith: Well, today I\'ve got some of my favorites. I don\'t know if you knew, but preparation is the way, and JUDY is how that gets done. I had an enjoyable time going through their brand.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/-ZiNiu_naEQ

They popped up as just an excellent brand not long ago. And of course, during COVID, all this stuff got pretty interesting. I think it\'s an exciting brand to follow, but they have some exciting emails. I thought I\'d take us through a couple of these.

They\'re not just talking about what happens if you\'re in a pandemic, but also what happens if you\'re in storms? How ready are you? What is the problem? Is preparation a real thing?

They\'re trying to legitimize preparation where many people think about preppers out there being a little bit cuckoo. They\'re making us think a little differently.

I\'m pretty interested in what they\'re doing and on an email level they check off many boxes for me. Simplicity and a focused number of colors. What\'s working for you? What are you noticing?

Matt Helbig: Interesting to see their email strategy because I\'ve been targeted online on Instagram a bunch with a lot of their advertising. I think they are leaning into the branding aspect of this brand.

Their email strategy is similar to their Instagram, which is getting some excellent product photography, bringing some cool layouts. I think many of these emails are pretty image-heavy, but I think they stand out by trying to use different fonts and unique designs to make their creative stand out compared to some of these other brands that might not be so flashy.

Matthew Smith: If you\'re going to do all image, one of the main critiques that we\'ve had has been that all image emails tend to be small.

Several levels of accessibility:

• Is it responsive so that people can just read it in a different environment than your desktop?
• Can somebody who has temporary sight impairment, read it and get access to it?
• Can somebody who has permanent sight impairment, do they have access to it?

They\'re covering their ground, at least on the first one, where these type sizes are readable in a mobile context. I\'ve been pretty happy with that portion. I would love to look at their copy and their strategy. I think these are smart.

They play on this idea of the fear of missing out and being prepared, which is an integral part of their brand. They do things like, \\"Don\'t miss your chance to make a choice.\\" Somebody has done some excellent work with the copy on something like that. They always have this consistent CTA in black and this great use of orange and sometimes yellow. I think that this gets the point across so well. It\'s just super consistent. The type sizes are consistent. There\'s very little that\'s getting in my way here to make a purchase. I love that.

I\'m interested in their strategy on this one, how they\'ve captured this idea of like in the car, on the go, hunkering at home—these different levels of kits that you can get. Whereas prepping, in general, can seem overwhelming, they\'ve done an excellent job of making it seem pretty accessible just to be prepared and a lot less cuckoo feeling.

So, what would you change, if anything?

Matt Helbig: I appreciate how short and to the point these are. They don\'t dive in too much about what\'s in the packs, at least in this series. They\'re just inviting you to a landing page and letting you know what you need to know when it comes to these products. I appreciate it\'s this invitation to a click to go to a landing page to make a buying decision rather than convert you into the email.

These are pretty hard creatives to make fully live text and fully accessible. Even if they spent all that time doing that, I\'m not sure if the ROI would be there for them. I think optimizing for mobile is probably the best thing they can do with these. Maybe they could try to bring in some more personalization or dynamic content or something, depending on the different segments they have in their audience. 

Overall, I feel like they\'re doing a pretty great job with the products that they have and how they\'re marketing them using email, social, and different channels to do that.

Matthew Smith:  I\'m pretty impressed. One of the things I particularly liked, too, is using these notifications to drive people into traffic. Good work, JUDY folks. Come check out the emails on reallygoodemails.com and see how they\'re doing some of this stuff.

The driving points that you can walk away with are: JUDY has done a great job with simplicity and playing design golf, getting down to the simplest number of colors, and the least amount of differences to focus the user on a specific goal job email so you know what you need to do in each of these emails very quickly. Well done, JUDY. Thank you for being a good inspiration. See you on the flip side.

Matt Helbig: Peace.

Matthew Smith: Happy Friday. Talk soon.

How do you focus on one goal (one \\"job\\") in messaging that speaks directly to your audience? This week, we\'re taking a look at some e-commerce emails with JUDY.

How do you entice your audience to learn more about a product - or better, buy the product - with high-quality email design? This week, we\'re checking out some product emails from June.

This FF episode was sponsored by emfluence. Get paired with a marketer to see how your strategy will work in the emfluence Marketing Platform.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Email can be an extension of a product. High-quality email design can give the customer an experience, setting the expectation for a high-quality product.

2. Imagery showcases how the product is made and the quality it\'s made with. Include product photography and visual content to show the product and entice your audience to buy the product.

3. Use A/B testing with your email imagery to see what works for your audience, like including photos with people in the email vs. photos of the product by itself.

*BONUS* Use a GIF to preview a video of the product in action. Keep the GIF light on size (aim for 600KB) to keep the email light.

Matthew Smith: Happy Feedback Friday, everybody. I\'m hungry. Let\'s talk about some June cooking.

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, Email Geeks? Welcome back to another episode of Feedback Friday. This week, we\'re looking at smart ovens.

Matthew Smith: Are they smart, though? I think these are pretty cool.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/eKbPFt1Pw_g

The branding work on June is really attractive. Primarily it\'s beautiful product photography. And being able to move through some interesting visual content that they\'ve got to show me and entice me into cooking with June.

This is the kind of thing that us lazy Americans are getting more and more interested in where it\'s like, let\'s put something in the oven before I go to work and then have it ready for me, and my neat little app tells me it\'s done. Yay! This is part of that mix, and I think June has done a really nice job.

One of the things that’s working really well is this live text, and it allows for a very convenient way to model it out here on mobile. I would probably change the heading size on mobile, just a little smaller so you can fit more words per line. It\'s a little hard to read in this context. But the body copy is great, and they do this throughout some of their other emails as well.

Again, this product photography is really great. It\'s not that expensive to get fantastic product photography in the long run. You can get it done. It doesn\'t always meet the highest standards, but several hundred dollars and you\'re off to the races.

They did a nice job here and I think it makes a huge difference. It’s giving me inspiration about what I could cook using June, and then seeing this beautiful imagery of the oven itself makes me want to go get it.

You can see, again, they start going after some holiday giving. This would have been done probably in the fall last year, and we start seeing “15% off,” a really nice big callout for that. And then we also get to see imagery here to let us know a little bit more about how June is made and the quality with which it\'s made.

Everything just feels really well thought out and designed. I\'m impressed. You see this on every one of their emails. This is a GIF that\'s digging me into a potential video. I know that there\'s Sendspark that you can put video in email for the email clients that allow for it. But driving with a GIF and a video play button so that I want to go find out more about June. This is a great way to do it.

I can tell from the GIF that this is a pretty lightweight GIF. It\'s not overly heavy, which is important. Giving me this indication about some of these icons that they\'ve created for it. It\'s a great visual into your experience and what you expect from June.

Everything\'s so refined. You really start to expect this is going to be a high-quality product. If the email were not designed this well, you wouldn\'t get that sensibility.

What do you think could be improved on this, Matt?

Matt Helbig: I really appreciate how premium these emails feel. I feel like that’s them really understanding their audience on what they\'re expecting.

And I think you\'ve said this in previous episodes that email can really be an extension of product. For these emails, that really feels like that. I\'m actually kind of interested in getting these types of emails and I\'m really interested in what other sort of triggered emails they might have.

When they use live text like that, I was actually taken aback just because it looks so premium and it feels so thought out and great. There isn\'t a lot to really change. Maybe some of the copywriting and the offer stuff, getting in sync with those customers even more about what they\'re really wanting to see if it\'s more recipes or things like that.

Maybe with that product photography, they could try to bring in some user-generated content as well to make it feel a little bit more testimonial-driven when it comes to making you want to buy this product or subscribe or something.

But overall, I think they\'ve done a really good job on taking the time with these templates and really building a design system so that they can put in different content and use their product imagery effectively to get that message across.

Matthew Smith: Yeah, I agree. I think one of the things that would be interesting too would be to split test different types of imagery. Seeing the oven over and over is helpful and it\'s interesting, but what about if I saw the net effect more as part of it, which is being around my family more because I\'m not having to spend as much time in the oven maybe.

And some of the intelligence quality of the smart part, being able to give me that human interaction. Maybe seeing some faces of people could be an interesting split test to try that out. I think they\'ve done a really nice job.

As usual, I\'m always talking about design golf, and you can see, except for things like visuals like this, their primary colors might be four or five at the most. And they\'ve just done a really nice job of keeping that limited. And same with their typography. It feels really balanced and helps this feel premium.

Well done, June. Looking forward to having some good food now because of all this. I\'m looking forward to a good weekend. Happy Friday, Email Geeks. We\'ll talk to you soon.

Matt Helbig: See ya.

There’s a lot more to consider about pop-up designs and strategy, but it all comes back to serving the end-user. One of our mantras at RGE is to build relationships, not lists. We chatted with Olivia Stapp, Customer Success Strategy Manager at Justuno, about some really good pop-up strategies. When thinking about why you want people to give you their information, thinking in this context should guide you better than anything else.

Matt Helbig: What\'s up, Email Geeks? Welcome back to another episode of Feedback Friday. This week we have Olivia from Justuno, how\'s it going?

Olivia Stapp: It is going wonderful. How are you doing?

Matt Helbig: Very good, excited for some Fourth of July festivities this weekend, but first some amazing pop-up examples.

Olivia Stapp: To introduce myself, I am Olivia Stapp. I\'ve been with Justuno for about four years. I manage our customer success and strategy department so I look at a lot of pop-ups. I know the best practices and I\'ve been doing this for a long time.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/QdLtHQgzInw

Matt Helbig: For people maybe not familiar, what are email pop-ups? How do you use them? How do you put them on your site?

Olivia Stapp: There are so many ways. One of the biggest ways, the number one thing, is email capture and lead capture. All marketers know how valuable an email lead can be, and that is Justuno’s bread and butter, what you would initially know us for. Then, on top of that, we do a lot of other things, including exit intent, trying to save those cart abandoners.

We also have a lot of different gamification features. There are so many different opportunities to use Justuno promotions on your website to help increase your ROI, to help your conversions, and to gather more leads. It is a very dynamic tool.

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I feel that email captures have been around for a while but we\'re still seeing marketers experiment with the format and try new interactive components; how they show up or when they show up, and what kind of information you\'re displaying. It\'s always interesting to see different brands trying out new stuff.

Olivia Stapp: We\'re constantly seeing new and innovative ideas, especially with SMS capture coming into the world as well. However, different appearances, like you said those gamifications, such as spin-to-wins, things like that. Not only making the email capture valuable to the customer because they\'re often getting a discount but making it fun to interact with as well.

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I feel like people think they\'re a bit annoying, but I still think they work, closing a sale or capturing an email address, they’re still a very effective tool to make that happen on a page.

Olivia Stapp: They are. Today, what we often say when people are worried about the annoying factor is the rules. The rules are a big thing, making sure that we\'re displaying things to people at appropriate times and not overwhelming them. That will make that field less annoying. I know often when I go to a site I look for them now because if I\'m going to go and I\'m already set on making a purchase, then I want my discount.

Matt Helbig: Exactly. Justuno put together this awesome resource called popupexamples.com, featuring a lot of the pop-ups. I think we talked about some of the more common examples like capturing an email address and giving someone an offer. Are there any other unique ways people might be using these? 

Olivia Stapp: There are so many unique ways. We have people using promotions on mobile devices to mimic a mobile menu, which is just a bottom promotion bar with some icons on it. It makes things a little bit easier to navigate in the mobile format. 

One of the fun things I\'m seeing a lot of clients do now is a post-purchase SMS capture. They’re having really good luck with expanding capture from just the standard, fire it when somebody is new, and just landing on the site, situation.

Matt Helbig: Yeah, it seems like there are a lot of little variables you can play around with when you\'re asking them and when you\'re showing them. Plus, there are also opportunities to A/B test these forms and ask where in that sales-customer cycle you want to ask for some of that information.

Olivia Stapp: Exactly and A/B testing is one of the powerhouses of Justuno. Nobody knows your audience like you know your audience, and so the best thing is testing things that have worked. Everything from testing imagery, to a lifestyle image on the promotion, to different copy, to different offers; it\'s all about finding what works best for your audience.

Matt Helbig: There are a couple of different brands that we saw that had pop-ups in the wild and I thought we could feature them and talk through some of the good and bad parts of them.

Olivia Stapp: Yeah, that sounds great. 

This specific promotion is very, very unique, but it works in a lot of ways because of its uniqueness. With welcome captures people often, and I know we just touched on it, but people can think they\'re annoying.

For a lot of brands that have a very clean, upscale aesthetic, like the one we\'re seeing here, a full-page center promotion may not be the best bet. However, we always do want to know in circumstances like this, that, with a lead capture being this bottom bar instead of a center main promotion, there is a very strong chance of seeing a reduction in engagement rate. So, in that lead capture, you will sacrifice a little bit there, but that\'s always something worth testing. 

You can A/B test a banner capture versus a full-size capture to see which one your audience is responding to best. Sometimes people find the quality of leads, when they do something a little bit more like this, tends to be a little bit better because it\'s attracting people that want to engage.

Matt Helbig: Yeah, I like this one. I picked this one out because it seemed like less in your face while still using a lot of the colors from the brand. It seemed pretty straightforward. I do agree that if you would have put it front and center, you might get more engagement, but I think this is a good placement for a brand that wants to let you know that they have an email list you can sign up for, but isn\'t overly aggressive with it, or right in the front.

Olivia Stapp: Yeah, I love this. This is a great way to, as I said, be cautious of being too overwhelming, but also still making sure it\'s kind of out there. 

This is a great example of something that stands out, that\'s fun looking, it\'s unique, but it doesn\'t have an offer. They are not offering you a discount percentage or anything. They\'re just saying, if you love us, you want to get to know us, then sign up for us.

Some feedback that I would give them on this is, collecting and asking for your name. This is another one where a lot of people use customization in emails, and so they do want to have that name in there as well. However, once again, for every additional field, you\'re asking for, you\'re going to reduce your engagement rate. You think about people and people very often will think that it’s a little bit too much effort. 

There are always other things you can offer in your copy and I think that this brand has a lot of opportunities to test copy. They could make it a little bit more of an exclusive discount. For example, they have discounts and could send, “know when our sales are coming”. Having that exciting language to get on the newsletter when you\'re not offering a discount is helpful. 

Matt Helbig: Yeah I agree. I think with email captures, I like to set expectations clearly when you offer a form like this so people know what they\'re signing up for. I think a lot of people are used to signing up just to get a discount, but if it is something like a newsletter, even letting them know what day they can expect it or if it’s going to be a daily email. It\'s good to have some of that stuff be a little bit more upfront.

Olivia Stapp: That brings up a good point as well; being really, really clear and honest with your audience about what you\'re offering. Making your language as clear to read and as simple as possible, is a definite best practice and one that they accomplish well on this promotion.

Matt Helbig: Pushing some of these additional fields out maybe until the next page or even, I think what we do is sometimes we\'ll do a follow-up email and say like, “could you let us know some more information about you”, after opt-in. Especially, when some of these brands aren\'t even going to use your name all the time, sometimes you capture fields just to capture them, and your marketing team doesn\'t end up using them anyway so you might as well reduce the number of fields that you\'re including.

Olivia Stapp: Let\'s take a look at some exit offers. I want to make sure we can get through all our different fun ones here. This one is super simple, but it fits with the website. It\'s not too jarring because it\'s not out of place. It\'s very, very simple, “there\'s still enough time for 15% off”. The 15% off is just an overall sitewide event, as you can see from the banner up top, so we can get that context. Reminding somebody of that big sale like, “Hey don\'t forget”, we already gave you this in the banner, but here\'s that second reminder. Also, that countdown timer that they have in the banner, it is awesome to see those.

Matt Helbig: I like the design of this, it matches the website style, having rounded corners on this pop-up. Yeah, this caught my eye when I was exiting the site. It brought me back in to say, “okay, well I can finish this purchase”. It almost creates this FOMO thing of like well, I have this discount, I almost have to use it. 

Olivia Stapp: Yeah it\'s like, well what if I don\'t have that later?

Matt Helbig: Exactly, I think they do a great job adding some urgency and adding a little bit of FOMO there to get you to keep browsing or make that sale.

Olivia Stapp: I usually very much tend to veer and veer my clients away from a lead capture and an exit promotion. The person is already on their way out the door, we are adding in an additional step, so we see a lot lower engagement rates with those, where the purpose of these promotions is to retain them there. Then, instead of doing the “Leaving so soon? $15 off your first order of $150”, doing something of “Leaving so soon? Here\'s $15 off when you purchase $150”. We\'re just giving it to them because with the purchase, we have another opportunity of obtaining the email address. The extra step of entering the email could potentially detract people from taking the offer up.

Matt Helbig: Yeah, did you have any insights on making someone go to the welcome email to get that coupon code, or would you recommend showing it right away on the site?

Olivia Stapp: Right away on the site. We want to make it as easy as possible for those people. When we use the version of, not displaying it on-site and using it for email, that\'s for people who are getting a lot of spam or throwaway emails. You can use things like BriteVerify and different things like that to validate emails on the site as well. 

Oh, I love this.

Matt Helbig: I thought it was interesting where they really weren\'t asking for anything and maybe that\'s because they know that I already opt into these emails, but I just thought some fun CTA copy like “wow, thanks” and letting you know that you might get something added to your order, plus a discount, is a cool way to give a very time-sensitive offer on the page rather than something more generic. 

Olivia Stapp: Yeah, this is definitely something that you could almost use as an exit promotion. When somebody doesn\'t have anything in their cart yet, this is that extra, “Hey, how about these additional things and this additional discount”, and it fits. It is so on brand. I cannot get over how on-brand this is and I love it. 

This is a really good example of an alternative to a discount, doing a raffle win situation or entering to win something. It\'s a really good incentive for people to sign up. You get engaged audiences from it. A really large client I\'ve worked with for a while, Pendleton, actually the blanket company, was regularly doing giveaways and had massive success with their lead captures.

Yes, gamification is phenomenal. It is very good for upping that email lead list size. It’s one of those situations where you do have to be careful of people who are putting in emails to spin the wheel, but it does increase your lead capture rate, typically by multiple percent. 

This is really simple, it\'s from the side. One thing I would recommend on this promotion design-wise, and every promotion actually, is adding an additional close button underneath the spin button, only because we don\'t want to interfere with the experience. We\'ve decided to play something in the way and we want to make sure it\'s as easy as possible so it doesn\'t interfere if they are on a conversion pathway essentially. It’s really simple. It\'s on-brand and I enjoy the copy on this. I really love when people have fun to brand copy, making things look on brand and making your language speak to your audience is so important.

Matt Helbig: I\'ve never used one of these, but I\'ve heard a lot of people talk about them and I’ve seen them on other sites. It’s definitely something to test and you see that lift, but I think this brings a fun and interactive element towards just a regular opt-in. It makes you feel like, again, maybe some FOMO that you won something or something like that. It brings that interaction of opting in a little bit more exciting. 

I found this one to be cool and I haven\'t seen anything like it before.

Olivia Stapp: This is what we would call pick a prize. It\'s a template we offer now, it\'s a plugin we offer now that we just built out. You can do something similar where you can upload images, and one of them will be the winner. With these, always, it\'s making sure we\'re getting them in front of people at the correct timing, not just putting something like this on landing. We suggest delaying it a bit so people have a chance to settle into your site before. This also assures that anybody who accidentally closes that out doesn\'t do that as well. 

This has a lot of opportunities for testing. For some brands, when you look at things like this, it is really simple, and for some brands that works well. For some brands simple is the best option, especially depending on your audience. They have a lot of opportunities to test, and even testing a welcome screen, that would be adding in a screen ahead of it that just says, “Hey, would you like a discount today?”, a yes or no, or “how about opting-in”, something like that. That leading language has a really good impact on positive engagements.

Matt Helbig: This is very simple, you don’t have to read too much on what you need to do, but I think there might be opportunities too, after you receive that email, on that confirmation slide on this page. I would be interested to see what that looks like if they give you your code here, or say, “share this”, or a referral or something. I feel like that confirmation is a second chance, there\'s a lot of opportunities to try out new things. I know we\'ve tried out a social share. 

Olivia Stapp: Yeah, we just had a request for that and I have a client who\'s now asking for Facebook likes via their thank you page as well. I think there\'s a lot of opportunities for those thank you pages and they\'re now starting to be a little bit more utilized rather than being an afterthought like you just said.

Matt Helbig: Alright, for this last example, they\'re asking for the double opt-in, both email and phone number.

Olivia Stapp: Love it, I’m glad we finally pulled one of these up. I would recommend testing, doing the capture on one page versus splitting out that capture. 

Matt Helbig: I agree. I feel like there\'s some hesitancy when people ask me my phone number right away. I think we\'ve said in a previous episode when you get someone\'s phone number, it\'s like they’re a super fan. So, sometimes, asking for that right up front when I don\'t know a lot about your brand is a lot for me to give you my phone number, just to get 10% off something. I know some people only have an SMS strategy and they don\'t even use email in the same way. I mean if you had to recommend email versus phone number if you only could pick one, which one would you pick?

Olivia Stapp: I would say email on desktop and mobile on mobile. 

Matt Helbig: Oh, interesting, I like that strategy.

Olivia Stapp: Yeah that\'s usually my strategy, it\'s worked out well for a lot of my clients. They\'re not sacrificing anything it feels like because they have a very valuable email.

Matt Helbig: I\'m sure we gave people a lot of examples to walk through and I\'m excited to see what people try out. I see pop-ups sticking around on the web for a minute because they continue to work pretty well.

Olivia Stapp: They are not going away anytime soon and they’re really helpful in a lot of ways. Justuno is a super powerful tool and there are a lot of really unique and fun ways to utilize the tool as well. 

Matt Helbig: Great, well thanks so much for taking the time. I appreciate you jumping on here and Justuno has a lot of good resources as well so check them out.

Olivia Stapp: Have a good one.

What do you do when you are in front of hundreds of email geeks on an unsuspecting weekend in the South? Pee your pants? Cuss like a sailor? Show off some kick-a** designs and code that will make grown men and women cry with joy?

You will definitely see that last option in this week’s Feedback Friday, coming at you from the UNSPAM stage in Greenville, South Carolina. Get ready for hover states and interactive emails.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZAmmIJM8FaA

Matt: Hey Email Geeks! This week we got a special episode from our UNSPAM conference. We were lucky enough to get Alice Lee from Litmus for our first live recording. Big thanks to Litmus for making this episode possible. Check out Litmus Builder. It’s a great tool to help streamline your email design and development workflow.

Alice: Hi everyone! My name is Alice Lee and I’m the Principle Email Engineer over at Litmus. I just started in December and I’ve been coding almost every email since. Before that I was at Shutterstock and then before that Oracle Responsys and then before that was Epsilon. So I’ve been in the email game for quite some time. Since 2007.

Matt: I think you are the OG email person. So you actually gave me a few emails to look at this week and I’m really excited to go through them with you.

Alice: Awesome.

Matt: Can you tell me a little bit about this first one?

Alice: This was created back in 2015, so if you are looking at it and you’re like “Oh no… It’s white text on top of a photograph. That’s something not to do.” That would explain why. It is like 4 years old. This is based on the first ever kinetic interactive emails that I coded for Oracle. Which was for the Lego Bionicle email back in the day.

It’s based on old school hover interactivity (using hovers that activate sibling selectors in CSS). So this is not quite checkbox yet. I like to look at it in terms of beta interactive email. There is definitely room for improvement. You can see we have to have a call out: “Tap buttons to see what happens!”. Just to tell people, “Hey! You can actually interact with this email. It’s not a click-through. It’s a carousel.”

And it is mobile responsive. So if you hover over you can see all the different slides going past. It is a background image with CSS-animated transparent PNGs that float on top.

Matt: Ooooh aaaahh fanncccyyyy

Alice: The reason we did that instead of animated PNGs is because animated PNGs aren’t very well supported (still). Animated GIFs don’t support translucency, so you end up with jagged edges. So this was the best way that I was able to come up with to retain the background image and have animation.

Matt: So how does this sorta process work? Does Shutterstock come to you and say, “Hey we want and interactive email.”?

Alice: When they hired me they knew I was all about interactivity. I showed the Lego Bionicle email during my interview. As soon as I got hired I was like, “Let’s go on this! We should do it!”. Finally they found a good excuse for me to do it.

Matt: So were there any unique challenges for this one? Outside of what you covered?

Alice: Just the amount of code time involved really and all the testing to make sure it worked. And actually the interactive code that I tested first on Lego postion:absolute stopped working on Android between then and this email so I had to refactor all of the dimensions and all the positioning to work with postion:relative instead.

Matt: Does this have a fallback on different email clients then?

Alice: Yeah absolutely it does. It works on a similar fallback principle to what I will be presenting next. Which is just a normal animated GIF layout.

Matt: That’s actually a good transition to the next email. Is this another Shutterstock one?

Alice: This is for Offset, which is Shutterstock’s more premium brand. This does use a punched card carousel technique to control the slides forward and backward. You can click on either of the arrows. Which are animated with CSS or if you can click on the little rectangle above to activate the carousel.

Matt: Does this go by itself at all? Is that a possibility in email?

Alice: You could add a CSS animation to it, but it wouldn’t be as well supported. That is why we only use CSS animations sparingly on the arrows.

Matt: I notice that we’ve seen a lot of hover effects. Should we all just be adding hover effects to our buttons? Or when is it not a good choice to do animations?

Alice: I say yes. I am biased, but hover effects have a pretty good fallback. If it doesn’t hover it doesn’t break the entire email. Also hover effects are becoming integral for accessibility reasons. If you want your audience to interact with your email then a lot of times hover over a link and there’s no over effect the only thing that’s changing on the screen is your mouse cursor and often times it’s so subtle that you can’t tell. So I would definitely recommend adding hover effects just to make sure everyone knows where and when to click through.

Matt: I did notice this is white text on an image once again. \uD83D\uDE00

What does the fallback on this one look like?

Alice: So this is the fallback that is in the HTML body by default. This one uses an external stylesheet to pull in all the interactive CSS. The reason for that is because usually there is a lot of overlap between whatever supports external CSS and whatever supports interactive CSS. So it’s just a way that I like to keep my code pretty clean.

Also sometimes if you have your interactive CSS in the embedded <style> tag it may conflict with any progressive enhancements. We don’t want to deal with that.

Matt: What is business ask for this one? Why would you use a carousel for this? Is there a specific value add that you wanted to communicate?

Alice: Shutterstock really wants to put a lot of focus on its stock imagery. We were always looking for better ways to display our product.

Matt: Now that you are at Litmus, we can look at your own emails. So is this one that you coded as well?

Alice: Well this is based on code that already existed that Kevin Mandeville came up with, but I ended up refactoring it because this newsletter was originally done in table-less style.

This is another way that we learn from our practices and see what doesn’t work. Unfortunately table-less emails don’t necessarily work that well if you are trying to sustain it as a developer. What was going on in this table-less was that there’s still ghost tables in the email for Outlook so whenever you wanted to make updates, you had to update it both in the <div> and the ghost table. So in that sense is it really table-less? Is it really that sustainable?

The answer we came to is that eventually not really. So I refactored it to do away with that and try to have minimal tables but also retain a lot of those semantic HTML tags involved (like <h> tags).

Matt: This top section is definitely the standout part of the email for me. This rollover effect to the video. How difficult is it for something like this to be implemented?

Alice: Not very difficult at all. This is just a hover effect that turns the opacity for the cover image from 100% to 0%. And it reveals the animated GIF as background image behind it.

Matt: I know that we talked before that there may be a few different ways to do this. Why is this the way that you chose?

Alice: I explored doing display:none instead of opacity:0 or visibly:hidden instead but the problem with those is that it reduced the image completely from the document flow. So if your mouse hovers over it just rapidly flickers on and off because it’s being removed and then coming back. You don’t want to deal with that jittery hover.

Matt: This transition is very smooth. I imagine the fallback for this is that the hover effect just doesn’t work. Right?

Alice: Yea. Then you can just click through and see where it goes.

Matt: I love that effect. It seems like an easy way to really spice up the email and get people to click on that section. So what would be the support for something like this?

Alice: This is actually pretty well supported across most email clients including Apple Mail and Gmail. Those are our two most popular.

Matt: Now we can judge some other people’s emails. We put you in the hot seat for the first few. We have some brands that we really like. I’m a big fan of this one. I’m always scared to use gradients in email.

Alice: What I loved about this is that it is a CSS linear gradient background and it’s combined with these CSS box-shadows and when they are both not supported it falls back to this flat dark-blue background. I feel like the top dark blue background compensates for the lack of the drop shadow. It gets lighter later on. It really doesn’t detract from the experience that much.

Matt: We where playing around with Litmus Builder earlier and there are a bunch of different views. For example, you can turn off images and see how the email will look. As you can see here, this is a good example of how important live text is. This email is still pretty readable. I can get all the information from it. I can still see CTAs.

Alice: …and those CTAs have a great hover effect with a slight transition. Inverting the background and text colors is an easy way to help retain the contrast ratio.

Matt: I’m a big fan of what they do. Every time I get one of their emails I’m excited to see what they’ve done.

Alice: Let’s take a look on mobile.

Matt: I’m really into brands that take time to style that mobile stylesheet. Really think about how it is going to look. When a desktop email is laid out in a PSD the mobile optimization part might be the last part. Spending a bit more time on that really makes it stand out.

Alice: This is kinda weird, but I really like the fact that horizontal line at the top of the email goes from being on the side margin to being full size on mobile. Something like that is just really special to me. When the email resizes to mobile, the side margins disappear to give more horizontal real estate.

Matt: Are these web-fonts?

Alice: Yea! They are a custom web font “Lato” via @import.

Matt: I’m assuming just a fallback to a web-safe font.

One of my favorites is this one from Invision. We’ve actually talked about them before on Feedback Friday. You showed me this and I really got into this animation right here.

Alice: OMG. I love that. When you hover over the entire module changes. I took this apart the other night so all images are wrapped in a SPAN, and all of that is wrapped in an A tag with a hover effect. Activating the hover on the A tag causes the SPAN tag to use a CSS transition to change the background position of a transparent PNG corner image from being behind the image to being display:block on top of the image. The position pulls it from the bottom corner into the image to reproduce this page-curling look.

Matt: I am impressed.

Alice: Only negative — I wish the hover effect on the link list below was more obvious and less subtle. It just makes it a bit darker. For people who have challenges with vision — like myself even — it’s hard to tell when you’ve actually hovered over or tabbed over one of those text links. Even doing something like removing the underline on hover would help a lot.

Matt: So this is done with a CSS animation right?

Alice: No. It’s actually a CSS transition. There is a difference. Transition is more supported across more email clients.

Matt: This also looks like a custom web-font.

Alice: Yea. This one is “Poppins”, pulled in with an external stylesheet straight from the Google Fonts API.

Matt: This is just a newsletter. It is impressive to me that they take the time to do this sort of stuff. Investing in templates like this and reusing them with different content is really fantastic.

Alice: Absolutely. I’m subscribed to this newsletter and every time they send it out, I’m like “Ohh! They are doing three columns this time instead of two columns.” Just subtle changes they make really impress me.

Matt: We have a few more to look at. This one has a really fantastic GIF.

Alice: This one I really like. This is a digital marketing agency in the Netherlands. They seem to be really proud of their newsletters to the point that they actually put it on the front page of their website.

Scroll all the way to the bottom and read all their newsletters. They all fit into this same format so you can tell that it’s part of the same series.

Matt: It’s a long one.

Alice: It’s pretty long. These templates by DPDK serve as this really well-designed container for all the different themes they do. This one is promoting a glitch themed newsletter. It’s very glitchy. In a good way.

Matt: This big button GIF trend really stood out to me when I first opened this. What do you think of that?

Alice: It’s like a love hate thing. I hate it that it is mostly images, but I also love that it is animated. It is unfortunate. If I were to do this, I would try to put at least some live system text on top of a live animated background GIF.

I suppose that GIFs are the way that works for their newsletter. I like the fact that the largeness and the boldness of the animation makes it stand out in a unique way from all the other competing graphical elements.

Matt: This use of images may be to support layouts that could be difficult to code in email. I understand in order to do these types of layouts relying on images is an option. I do like that the content doesn’t really seem repetitive. When scrolling down the email each section stands out. That flow GIF grabs your attention right away when you open the email. It totally pulls me in.

We have one more from them too.

Alice: This is just another example how they are using the similar newsletter layout with a completely different theme. This incorporates a lot of the themes that Meghan from Emma spoke about in her session. The illustrative style as well as the diagonals to bring your eye down.

The animated GIF is awesome, and it looks so smooth because the very graphic look of this with solid colors instead of gradients and shadows means that each color is encoded smoothly into the GIF format.

Matt: So when you are designing emails at Litmus now what kind of new ideas are trying to bring in? Are you getting your inspiration from different emails you see? How are you coming up with new things?

Alice: Absolutely. We just hired an email designer that is fantastic, Lily Worth. She wrote a great blog post about the rise of illustrations in email. She’s pretty passionate about and she’s going to try to incorporate more of that as well.

Matt: We did mention that a few of these are mostly images. How important is accessibility when you are designing these emails?

Alice: We are also trying to put more focus on accessibility. Of course because some of these examples are mostly imagery, it’s not super accessibility friendly. Another great thing that we’ll be doing, is that we are really trying to make sure and test every background color and text color combo to make sure it’s AA certified.

I’ll be refactoring all of our old emails to be more accessibility friendly. Checking for missing ALT tags, making sure that tables have role=“presentation” on them. There is like a whole checklist that I go through.

Matt: What really interests me was when you talked about that original Lego Bionicle email. What drove you to even try to make that happen? What motivated you? Why do you keep trying new things with interactive email?

Alice: Our client at the time, Lego, was relaunching their Bionicle brand. They really wanted to display something truly innovative in their email. We had just started experimenting with interactive CSS for B&H. The problem with that email is that their CSS wasn’t super reusable or templatable. So I did a new version of that where we could re-use it, insert new images and try new layouts with it.

Matt: Is there anything coming up next that you are really interested in? Do you believe the hype around the whole AMP thing?

Alice: It sounds like a lot of people are in the wait and see boat. While I am really excited to try it out, it’s difficult to find ways to actually send it out right now.

Matt: Any other CSS or email client support things that you think will come soon?

Alice: I do think that we are making strides with accessibility specifically. So the more people adopt that, there can be new sources available for that.

Matt: Last question. So all this stuff looks great, but how do I tell my boss that I want to make and email like this? How do you get buy-in to try interactive email?

Alice: Interactive email has performed well for the clients that I’ve worked with before. Your milage may vary, but for the emails that I’ve produced we’ve seen at least a 10% increase in click-through-rate (CTR) and a 11% ROI. For Offset when we introduced interactivity our first time conversions where 123% increase. That’s pretty good. I could take those numbers and told my boss, “Hey look! We had this success with it before. Why not try redo it?”.

Matt: That’s about it! Thanks for taking the time!

Subscribe to the youtube.com/reallygoodemails channel to see the new episode published each week.

This week we look at Litmus\'s interactive email at UNSPAM 2019.

\uD83D\uDCCB TL;DR key takeaways from this episode:

1. Designing separate layouts for mobile and desktop and using different images in each format can give you more control with the email design. This helps you serve up a better experience for your audience.

2. Using a grid system for product and fashion emails allows you to show items in a different size on different devices. This can help balance the layout of an email that contains a lot of different items in it.

3. An email is not a static canvas. Keep this in mind when before designing emails in a program that’s mainly used to create assets for a static canvas.

*BONUS* Stay away from using a background image for products, especially in the hero image. Let the hero image breathe so your audience can see all the product details and drive them to make a purchase.

Matt: What\'s up, email geeks! We\'re back with another Feedback Friday with the email fixer herself, Annett.

Annett: Hi, Matt, how are you?

Matt: How\'s it going? Tell everyone a little bit about yourself.

Annett: I am Annett Forcier. I\'m an email designer and developer. Formerly front end designer, formerly pastry chef. And so now I do emails only and only bake sometimes cookies.

I founded EmailBoutique Digital Inc. in May of this year. I have been freelancing for about six years together. The last two in total were full time. And before that I\'ve worked for multiple companies, tech startups and agencies as well, Pretty much every job I left, the company had a hard time replacing me or filling my position and at some point I had no time anymore for holding a full time position and that\'s how I became a freelancer.

Matt: You have your hands in a lot of different stuff. Name some of the brands that you\'ve worked for in the past.

Annett: Let me start from the latest run. I just finished a master template for Tupperware America. I have worked for Hootsuite. I\'ve worked for Cossette, which is a local agency in Vancouver. They did emails for Telus, which is a telecommunication company in Canada.

And what else? Grand & Toy. It\'s a big office of supply company similar to Staples in the States. So it\'s going from larger to small, and most of it is word of mouth.

Matt: Fantastic. So this is a template that you built—this Lulu lemon one.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/ORzaxVWV3f4

Annet: That was a fascinating one because we turned the workflow around for this one because the ask was to create an entirely new template. But with a similar look of previous emails.

So I basically got all their previous emails out to put them on the wall and be checked out. We made inventory basically what kind of modules we need, which ones we keep, which ones do we no longer need, and then I coded everything with placeholder imagery and placeholder copy, which is actually Yoga Ipsum if you take a close look at it.

Matt: I like that. Good touch.

Annett: It was also about how this can all render across all the platforms, and I needed to know that the rendering will work with the modules I built before the designer starts designing. So that\'s what that prototype was for.

I could also get the stakeholders to focus on the layout first before getting distracted with colors and imagery and copy. I had their eyes on the design, and I got pretty quick approval because everyone was looking at the same thing and was focused, which was great. After this was done, I worked with the designers to create a design system, and I think they did this in Sketch. I convinced them not to use Photoshop.

I want them to move away from Photoshop because, if you think about it, Photoshop is a graphic design tool where you create assets in a static canvas. Well, the email is not a fixed canvas. Any device where we are looking at emails is not a fixed canvas. You know what bothered me a lot was when I heard the word pixel perfect.

It\'s like, yeah, great. If you want something pixel perfect, turn on your printer and print it out, but it\'s not an email. So we need some flexibility here and there, and sometimes I have more success with it if I show it on a device. Like, see it won\'t work.

Matt: So this is what it looks like with content in it.

https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/theyre-back-with-a-textured-twist/

The product grid is quite interesting.

So you had that layout, and then once the content gets into the grid, it re-stacks and takes advantage of the grid system to look good on mobile.

Annett: There is a couple of things happening. The hero image is two different images.

Matt: I like it when brands optimize a bit more for mobile. It does take a little bit of extra work, but it pays off. You can tell the difference between these two.

Annett: It\'s, of course, only working on any device that supports media queries because the mobile version is a background image that is always lying behind the desktop.

The container that is holding this background image is optimized for the actual image. So on iOS or everywhere else where media queries are supported, the desktop image would be hidden.

Matt: Looking at that original template where there was a little more live text, why did they decide to lock up this text in images. I guess it makes sense to lay it out in a specific way and use some of these brand fonts.

Annett: They were focused on brand fonts, of course. And then it also depends on the object itself. I mean, these are leggings, so this is a vertical image, so some people might think we could use a background image, but I\'m hesitant if it\'s a hero. If it\'s a pattern, we can live without, because some Samsung native apps don\'t support background images.

If it\'s a hero, that is important. I would not like to miss that picture. If it\'s a background pattern that I could replace with a background color, then okay, that\'s fine. But that\'s the reason why I don\'t suggest background images on a hero. In retail or fashion, we see that brands style guides are essential.

If this is the number one goal for the client, I will have to live with it. I want more text myself. In some emails, we do it, and in others, we don\'t.

Matt: It does look like this one does sort of mix in some live text when possible. So that looks great. But you\'re right. I think having a separate layout for mobile and desktop gives you a lot more control. The tradeoffs are that it\'s a lot harder to know how something might scale 100% of the time on some of those older clients.

I think you\'re right in this case where the better experience, honestly, is just having this laid out in an image. So scrolling down, I\'m interested in the difference between these two images.

It\'s an interesting switch up from desktop to mobile. So how difficult is some of this stuff? Is it just showing a specific image on desktop and then hiding it and showing this one on mobile?

Annett: It\'s the same as the hero. The background image is always behind. So the mobile version is the background image in this case. And because I can use a background image on mobile because it will only work where media queries are supported. And this is where background image rules show. So I\'m not concerned about a background image in this case. The designers prepare a mockup for the desktop version and a mockup for the mobile version..

And then we have two images. They are sitting in the same table cell, but sitting on top of each other. So the desktop is on a higher level, and right below is the mobile version.

Matt: I think I\'ve never really seen it done like that. I\'ve always seen sort of hiding an entire table row or something and then showing one on desktop or mobile, but I like that approach.

Annett: The only thing that you have to watch out for that the images are optimized because you\'re loading both. Like if you do this in an email, then will basically, you\'re asking for a lot of download data.

Matt: This is almost two emails in one

Annett: So I would be cautious about it.

Matt: This one does feel very mobile-first, and this one feels excellent on desktop. I know many people are moving towards the mobile-first design, but having this desktop, especially with the number of people I assume they might have opening in Gmail or something, makes sense to focus on this layout.

So scrolling down, I liked this grid system. Each of these are individual images, which I enjoyed. And this mobile section looks great. Can you talk about maybe how that stacks or moves around?

Annett: Yeah. So this is just a switch up. Maybe we want to emphasize certain products more than others.

In this case, I would suggest using the first image in the first row, and the last image in the last row to put the item in that needs more attention. So it looks like this first row is a three-column. But it\'s not. It\'s two columns.

The first image, the gray leggings, is one column, and the other two images are in the same cell, but nested in another table.

Matt: That\'s a genius move.

Annett: The first image will scale up 100%. As soon as the screen size becomes smaller. And the other two images will scale and stay the same size.

Matt: So is that something that a designer might have asked for, and then you\'re trying to find a fix? Or is this something that you know you can do, and then you kind of relay that to the design team?

Annett: In this case, they had that in one version, in their older templates, but it didn\'t work correctly. And then I worked on it as long as I got it to work. That took me a little bit.

But, it worked out in the end, and I was very proud of myself after I managed that, and then I couldn\'t stop playing. So I made a whole set of different grid systems, like, how could I change this and make this completely different? So I went little nuts with that.

And now, I have a massive library of wireless grid systems. I suggested a few different ones because sometimes, one of my clients is Article right now. It\'s a cool furniture company based in Vancouver, and they have a lovely Scandinavian look.

Matt: We love their emails too.

Annett: Yeah, I\'m on that too. So, there\'s going to be some new emails coming, but they have so many different items on the website. They have different sizes. Like a chair can never be the same size as a couch. The same thing I had a Grand & Toy. They\'re selling office supplies. It goes from a razor to a chair.

So the dimensions of certain items can vary so much. So if you have a grid system that allows you to show items in a different size and still make it look good, you will have to have a little closer eye on it. What item you put in, what position, of course. So it\'s not ideal for if you were loading your images dynamically.

You do need a little bit of a control over this. But it could help to balance the layout out of an email that has a lot of different items in it. So I think therefore, this was a really fun thing to do.

Matt: I liked this solution because having that three columns scaled down would be too small on mobile, and then stacking them one on top of each other might make this email too long. So I think this is a really good middle ground for letting the grid live and only having to load in one set of images. So that\'s nice. And then when this bottom section, I was surprised just how different they look, but I guess they\'re different images.

Annett: It\'s the same thing as the hero. They did use this in this email they use three times. So it\'s a bit on the heavy end. But, it does look stunning.

Matt: I liked just how consistent the CTA sizing is. And I feel like a lot of brands scale stuff, and then everything kind of looks different sizes and the buttons kind of feel all over the place.

But overall, these CTAs feel close to the same sizing on both desktop and mobile. And when you\'re moving around all that content and scaling stuff, it just is nice to see that.

Annett: This is the result of designers and copywriters and developers working very closely together. So we had looked at each other\'s work and understood what everyone\'s priorities were.

You come to really good results in the end, if everybody cares about what limitations are and what possibilities are and what the priority of the brand is.

Matt: If you can have that design consistency be a big goal, it pays off when people spend that extra time caring about stuff like that.

It makes the whole experience feel a lot better. And then when you hit the website, and everything looks the same as the email, it\'s just a really good experience throughout.

Annett: I agree. All right, so the super footer. It\'s a bit big, I know. It\'s just the information was required. So then the menu itself, we wanted to have these items as large as possible.

It\'s clickable. It\'s click friendly on mobile because mobile is where the open rates are the highest. Higher than desktop. So I created these buttons for these four categories. This section is for anybody who hasn\'t found an item inside the email they want to buy.

There\'s extra information about shipping and what the return rules are, a bit more convincing that this is a good brand to shop with. So I believe these button radiuses even work on Outlook because it\'s a static button.

The buttons you see above with the rounded corners. I don\'t think that works on Outlook because it has padding, so it grows with the copy in it because, in this case, the copywriter needed to freedom to make copy that they\'d come up with, and the button should work out for that. But in the menu, on the footer, the words don\'t change. They stay.

I can create a fixed button size, and I needed that because I\'m stacking them again. It looks like a faux column, but it\'s not. It\'s a two-column with two separate nested tables in it. That\'s why they stay nice and flush. It\'s the same module underneath where the icons are with the app, the store finder, and free shipping.

This is the same module only that there\'s an image in it and a text link, and both are clickable, I think. Yeah, so the icons as well as the billings.

Matt: I liked this approach because I feel like in that hero section, you have this little mini navigation, but you get out of the way quickly.